


The End of Asgard as We Know It

by CrashDevil (cjdevlin19)



Series: Red Queen Chronicles [6]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies), Thor Ragnarok - Fandom
Genre: Attraction, Cassie's a bit of bitch, F/M, Love-softened Loki, Regret, Ruins relationships, Self-Hatred, What happens on Asgard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-19
Updated: 2018-05-29
Packaged: 2019-02-04 04:44:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 29,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12763431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cjdevlin19/pseuds/CrashDevil
Summary: Cassie Campbell is happy on Asgard, doing her research. What will she do when Thor returns home?~~~~~~~~~~~"Cassie. How did you get here?"She raised an eyebrow and looked pointedly behind him. "Loki was in charge. All I had to do was ask.""You knew he stole the throne.""I tried to tell you. You didn't believe me.""You should have persisted!""Right, and ruin Christmas by explaining that Loki told me about it when I was Joanna and I didn't tell anybody after I got back from Austria because I was in a free-fall breakdown and after that, we had Ultron to worry about? Because bringing up Ultron is a surefire way to kill any party.""This is more important than your party!" Thor stepped forward, intimidatingly, but Cassie didn't back down."That party was about family, Swayze! If you still consider me a sister, you will understand that it may not have been important to anyone else, but it was important to me. And Loki might be a self-obsessed crumb, but he hasn't been a terrible king. Asgard has been fairly happy with his rule.""Are you defending him? Why are you defending- Loki's enchanted you again.""Have not!" Loki stepped to Thor's side.





	1. My Queen

Cassie stumbled as she came to a sudden stop in an extravagant room. She looked up at a tall man with no hair in heavy armor. "You're not Heimdall."

"No, Heimdall ran away before he could be arrested for negligence of duty. I'm Skurge." He looked her up and down in a way that would have made her want to cover herself with her arms 2 years before. "Odin told me to bring you in. So, uh... who are you?"

"Not anyone you have to worry about, Skurge. Nice name, by the way. I'm gonna assume I gotta go that way." She tightened her hold on her bag and headed for the giant golden golden city. 

"Oh, but I'm supposed to announce you. That's... that's my job."

She turned to him and sighed. "Odin told you to open the bridge and let me come here, right? So, he's expecting me. So, you don't need to announce me, right?" She could see the wheels turning slowly in Skurge's head, so she just smiled at him and turned back around. He ran after her.

"Yeah, but it's my job. Odin said-"

She flipped around on him and sighed. "Fine! You wanna announce me, then you're gonna do it properly. I am Project Kind experiment number four five two, daughter of the Red Skull: Johann Schmidt, hence denominated Joanna Schmidt. Also called Cassandra Campbell, the Red Queen. Friend to Thor Odinson and former wife of Loki Laufeyson, chosen son of the Allfather, Odin." She said, quickly, before adding. "Of Midgard." She smiled at him before heading across the bridge toward the city. As she approached the center of the city, Cassie came upon a large statue of Loki. She chuckled as she passed it, Skurge following behind her. She pushed slowly through a small crowd in an outdoor market area, which opened up into a courtyard, where 'Odin' was lying across a chair being fed grapes.

"Behold! Uh, the Red experiment number four five... uh, Johann Campbell... widow of Prince Loki of..." Skurge called out, causing 'Odin' to sit up and shoo his servants away. 

Cassie smiled and bowed before the king. "Cassie Campbell, my lord. Avenger and unwilling Midgardian wife of Loki."

'Odin' smiled slightly at that. "I'm eager to speak with you, Lady Cassie. Please, accompany me to the throne room." He put his hand out and picked her up, pulling her toward the Great Hall. "She's fine. Leave us." 'Odin' ordered the guards as he sat on the throne. As soon as they were alone in the throne room, Loki shimmered into being on the throne. "You should kneel. It is customary."

"Anything to get me on my knees before you, huh, Loki?"

"It is my favorite place to have you, Cassie." He sat forward and took a deep breath as his eyes analyzed everything about her. "Where have you been? I've been looking for you for months."

"You must've been frantically scouring Earth for me... between commissioning giant statues of yourself and having beautiful women feed you grapes."

"There's also a play. It's a little over-acted in the finale, but worth a watch." He smiled. "I did look. It's like you just ceased to be. Then, suddenly, Huginn shows up, says you're in New York and requesting passage to Asgard. I'm not so naive as to think you're here for me, though I do expect to reap the benefits of your presence. So... why have you come to Asgard and where were you previously?"

"I wish you had looked harder, Loki. I ceased to be, because I had my mind erased. I had a whole new life implanted into my head. I was a SHIELD agent for the last 3 months. All because Barton didn't like that I was sleeping with Steve."

Loki scoffed. "I do remember that I suggested you were sleeping your way through the Avengers, but I wasn't serious."

"Oh, he _really_ didn't like that I fucked you. I think that was the straw that broke the camel's back. After what you did to Faye, I suppose I'm a bit of a mess to fall into bed with you, but... I'm not the same woman you pulled out from under the lab table. I know what you did, but it doesn't affect me as it did back then."

"Is that your way of saying that you forgive me, my Queen?"

She shook her head. "Of course not. I would never let you out that easily. You are a terrible, disgusting Jotun who makes his fun with lies and mischief."

"Take care with your words, woman. I  _am_ king here."

"Oh, for how long, though? How long do you think it would take me to convince your people of the truth?" She asked, her eyebrow raising.

"As soon as the words left your mouth, I'd have you executed." He threatened.

"You'd try." She said, her eyes going cold.

Loki glared down at her for a minute, before smirking. "I missed you."

"I know you did. So, where's Thor? Can't imagine he'd sit idly while you erect monuments to your greatness."

"No, just the last great act of Loki of Asgard. The ultimate sacrifice I gave on Svartlfheim."

"But it's fake." She moved up the stairs to lean against the armrest of the throne. "Did Thor not tell people that you were alive? That the thing on Svartlfheim was an illusion and you came to take me within months of your so-called death? Sif knew."

"Ah! Well, Thor only shared the truth with Sif, the Warriors Three and myself. He seemed to think that the people would be wary if they knew I was still alive. Odin agreed, of course, that it was better to let all of Asgard believe me dead." He reached out and grabbed a strand of her hair. "I don't like it."

"Me, either. I probably should have dyed it before I came, but time was short."

"Allow me." He whispered, running his fingers through her hair. He brought her hair around her shoulders so that she could see her hair was blond again. "That's better. Now... why was time short? What brings you to Asgard?" 

"Infinity Stones. I'm here to research. Thor told me about the library, said it made the Library of Congress look like a Barnes and Noble." 

"Infinity Stones? Thor's off looking for those, isn't he?" Loki asked.

"You don't know? What, did he go straight from Midgard to-"

"No, he came back, but I... didn't much listen to what he was saying. I was mostly planning an orgy at the time."

"I really don't want to imagine you, as Odin, in an orgy." She said, looking amused and only a bit disgusted. 

"It was fairly tasteful, I promise." 

"'Orgy' and 'tasteful' are contrary ideas, Loki."

"You're right. It was disgusting." He whispered, staring into her eyes as his hands were twisting her hair between his fingers. "I'll take you to the library. We can research together."

"I feel like we wouldn't get much researching done _together_ , but if you show me to the books-"

"Can _you_ read Asgardian?" 

"I can figure it out. I've got a book."

"Your quaint little Viking runes book?" He fisted his hands in her hair and pulled her close to him. "You know I can help you faster and more accurately than that book. All I ask is that you give me what we both know you want, anyway."

"I told you, I'm with Steve." She whispered as his lips inched closer to hers.

"And I told _you_ that I'm the King... and you can claim to be my _former_ wife as much as you care to, but I have never consented to disparateness."

"Loki... your claim has been removed from my body." She reached up and pulled down her shirt collar.

"But, we were declared married, Joanna. Your scars may be gone but I will never let you go. I can still put all manner of other marks on your body to make sure everyone knows you belong to me." 

"You know my name. You'll use it." She growled.

"Make me."

"Do you really want to start this fight, God of Lies?"

"God, yes." He whispered, pulling her head to crash his lips against hers.

She leaned into it, her hands grasping at his armor as his fingers twisted painfully in her hair. She moaned, but pulled away, her green eyes darkened a bit with lust. "Not here."

"What do you mean, 'not here'?"

"You disrespect Odin every day by wearing his face, I'll not help you disrespect him further by defiling his throne."

"If you think I haven't already defiled this throne, _many_ times over, while wearing Odin's face, then you are-"

"Not with me."

"You've never even met Odin!" Loki pulled away and threw his arms up in exasperation. "Why do you care if I disrespect-"

"Because you might be a power-hungry, contrary little shit, but I am not, and when Thor returns, sees what you've done with the place and figures out that you are not his beloved father, I want there to be no reason for Mjolnir to make acquaintance with the inside of my skull."

Loki rolled his eyes. "Fine. I'll have the guards get you a bedchamber near mine."

"Near the library, thank you. I'd like to spend as little time possible traveling the halls."

"That is on the complete opposite side of the castle! You expect me to... I'm the King! You really think I'll walk all that way just for-for some tiny Midgardian bitch who thinks herself better than-" Cassie raised an eyebrow at him but said nothing. "Of course I will. Look to the lengths I've gone to have you in the past."

"I think you like the chase more than you like actually having me." She said, heading toward the giant door out of the throne room.

"You are very wrong about that, my Queen. I would've stopped caring years ago, if it were just about the chase. No, it's not the chase I care for, it's you." 

"Oh, Loki, don't." She dismissed. 

"What? Are you saying that I can't have feelings?"

Cassie stopped, her hands going to her hips. Loki turned to her. "I'm saying that you raped, tortured and manipulated me for years and you've only stopped because I learned to fight back. It wasn't very long ago that you broke me out of cryo and had someone read the words that you thought would allow you to control me. You did that because you care?"

"I did that because I wanted you by my side, no matter the means, but you've got so headstrong of late that-"

"I've truly blossomed into a Midgardian fit for being queen." 

Loki chuckled, slightly. "You're right. Frigga was headstrong, as well."

Cassie started toward the door, again. "Don't tell me I remind you of your mother, Loki. That's just weird." 

"You remind me of my wife. You'd be a fine queen." Loki said, transforming into Odin again as they approached the door.

"I _am_ a fine queen." She whispered as the door opened to reveal two guards. 

"Please, take our Midgardian guest to the empty bedchamber closest the Library. Have the girls run her a bath and set out some new robes for her. Red, wasn't it?"

"I appreciate the offer, my lord, but I do have a change of clothes with me."

"Nonsense! You're on Asgard! You'll dress as an Asgardian. Robes of red and of green."

"Green?" She turned to 'Odin' with her eyebrow raised.

"My dear, departed son, your husband Loki, was very fond of that color. He would have loved to see you dressed in the wardrobe of an Asgardian woman, in his favorite color."

"I'll be wearing red, then." She whispered, as she started to follow one of the guards.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The room was extravagant, as she was certain everything in the castle was. The bed had too many pillows and the sheets looked like she'd get lost in them. She pulled all but two pillows off and pushed the sheets to the foot of the bed, before tossing her bag on the mattress and unzipping it. She set up a scanner to take atmospheric readings and hopped on the bed. She pulled out the ICD and turned it on. "This better work, Tony." She muttered to herself as the Stark logo rotated on the screen. She hit the green phone icon and waited as the screen flashed ' **Establishing Connection** ' for several minutes before ' **Connected** ' and Tony's face appeared on the screen. "Holy shit. It worked."

"Of course, it works. So, how's Asgard?"

"Golden. Like, literally, everything is made of gold. It's gorgeous but it's the kind of opulence that _you_ would say is a bit much."

"Is that a dig at my style? Really?"

"Oh, come on, Boss. Your shit is over-the-top and you know it." Cassie smiled. "How's New York? I miss it, already."

"Well, Parker is an annoying little shit who can't seem to realize he's still a kid, but he's good for boots on the ground. I am actually on my way to a fund-raising tour through Asia." He twisted, moving the ICD around him so she could see he was on his private jet. "So I left New York to the other ones."

"They have names, you know?"

"I'm sure they do. Do I know them? No. Do I care to learn?"

"No. Okay. So... what are you fund-raising for?"

"I dunno. Something Pepper thought was important. Breast cancer or babies or babies with cancer. I wasn't paying attention."

Cassie chuckled. "You should be nicer to Peter. He saved me. You _know_ he did."

"Yeah, well, he's acting too big for his britches and he needs to calm the hell down. He's strong and fast and smart, but he doesn't know how to make the hard choices. And he's a kid! I wouldn't want him to have to make the hard choices."

"Look, Tony. He's 15, not 5. He's a good guy and the most intelligent kid I've ever met and he wants to do the right thing. Tony, he became super and he didn't _hide_ like I did. He didn't become a villain. He donned the fucking suit and went to work helping people. Cut him some slack."

"I _have_ cut him slack, but he's too... he wants to do the big stuff now, but he's not ready for it."

"And how's he supposed to _get_ ready? I mean, if all he ever does is web-up muggers and find kidnapped women, how's he supposed to get ready for the big fights?"

"Simulators." Tony answered, quickly.

"Right." A knock came to her door so she smiled at Tony. "I gotta go. Gotta take a bath, get dressed real pretty. There's a feast in my honor tonight. So, there's that. Oh, uh..." She stood, heading for the door. "Thor's not here. He's searching for the Stones on his own. So... there's _that_. I'll call tomorrow."

"You better. See ya tomorrow, kid."

"Goodbye, boss." He just nodded before the screen went black.

Cassie bathed in a tub that smelled of vanilla and lavender and put on a dress of flowing red and cream-colored fabric. She let the servant women braid her hair and then let them lead her to the dining hall. 'Odin' waved her over to his table, where she took the seat next to him. "How did you tell that brainless dolt Skurge to announce you?" He whispered to her.

She chuckled. "Project Kind experiment number four fifty two, daughter of the Red Skull: Johann Schmidt, hence denominated Joanna Schmidt. Also called Cassandra Campbell, the Red Queen. Friend to Thor Odinson and former wife of Loki Laufeyson, chosen son of the Allfather, Odin... of Midgard." 

"Well, that's a mouthful. No wonder he couldn't keep it straight." 'Odin' said, standing. "Pray keep your voices down as I announce our guest. Project Kind experiment number four hundred and fifty-two, the daughter of Johann Schmidt: the Red Skull. Joanna Schmidt, also called Cassandra Campbell, the Red Queen. Teammate of my dear son, Thor, and wife of my chosen son, the late Loki of Asgard. Our guest... Cassie, of Midgard." She stood and waved at the hall before sitting back down. 'Odin' sat back down, too. "I do enjoy that 'Chosen Son' thing."

"I thought you would." She whispered. 

"After dinner-" 'Odin' started, but Cassie shook her head.

"No. After dinner, you can show me to the Library so I can start researching."

'Odin' sighed. "Of course." 

~~~~~~~~~~~

The library was bigger than she ever imagined, even with Thor's description. She turned in a circle, awing at the tall bookshelves and the many levels of the huge room. "You won't be able to _read_ any of them." Loki appeared beside her as her fingers ran across the spines of the leather-bound books. His voice was a bit singsong.

"I told you, I'll figure it out."

"If you won't allow me to translate for you, at least take a few days for me to _teach_ you how to read it, yourself."

"Well, I don't know how much teaching would get done... between your jokes and you pawing at me like a lecher." 

"I'm not a lecher, I'm your husband. I'm allowed to paw." He smirked at her. "I promise to keep my hands to myself while I teach you. All right?"

"Fine. Tomorrow?"

"Shall we retire to your chambers?" Loki asked, hopefully.

"Fine."

"Good. I'm already there." He shimmered away, and she headed out of the Library. She pushed the door open and shook her head at him. He was comfortably sitting on the bed. "You know this isn't going to be like last time we were together, don't you?"

"Of course not. You're king of Asgard. I wouldn't dream of trying to dominate you here." 

He smiled and stood, striding easily to her and pulling the straps of her dress down her arms. The dress fell to her feet and she looked up at him. "You should have worn the green one."

"You would have liked that too much. I'm not here to make you happy, Loki."

"Oh, but you will." He ran his hands down her arms and grasped them, maneuvering her to toss her onto the bed. "You will make me very happy."

She rolled backward on the giant bed, grabbing Loki's shoulders and rolling on top of him. "Don't think I'm gonna make this so easy for you. We might not be playing fem-dom on Asgard, but I'm not kneeling for you."

"I think you will. And even if you don't..." He twisted them, slamming her backwards into the pillows. "You're still going to choke on my cock."

"I never choke." She whispered, proudly, pulling his armor up and over his head. Loki finished pulling his armor and clothing off and she brought her hands up to caress his abs. "Fuck, Loki. How do you maintain this while lounging around eating grapes and watching theater?" 

He just chuckled and ran his hand from her navel to her breast, rolling it in his palm. She closed her eyes and sighed, happily. "I do so enjoy that look on your face. Reminds me of Joanna, our first time in New York while we waited for Stark and Barton to find a good laboratory."

Her eyes popped open. "You get me pregnant, I'm gonna kick your ass, Laufeyson. You pull out, you hear me?"

"I thought you wanted kids."

"That was 3 mes ago, keep up. If I got pregnant now, it'd ruin all my plans for being a badass superspy. It's not what I want, anymore, so if you cum inside me I'll make sure that you never have that pleasure again."

"What, of cumming inside you?" He asked, his tone amused.

"Of cumming, period." She leaned down and grabbed his dick through his pants, making him grunt. "I'll tear it off with my bare hand. Understand?"

He gave a huffing breath and nodded. "Yes. I understand." She released him and he leaned over her again. "I prefer my seed to adorn your face, anyway."

She grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him down for a rough kiss, using her heels to push his pants down his legs. His mouth attached to her neck, teeth scraping against her skin as his fingertips dug into her sides and hips. "Fuck." She whispered, blissfully.

"How long's it been, Cassandra?" He asked, licking his way down her collarbone to lap at the valley between her breasts. "How long since someone made you scream in pleasure?"

Cassie tried to vocalize about her night with Chloe in the Jane Hotel. She tried to tell him about her night with Steve before Natasha took her, but the answer that left her lips was, "Chelsea. The condo in Chelsea."

"When you rode my face like a whore and screamed my name with your little spy friend on the other side of the building? You haven't had any since that?" He dragged his tongue across her nipple and sucked it between his lips.

"That's not what you asked." She moaned, burying her hand in his hair.

"What do you mean?" He looked up at her.

"Oh, you piece of shit, you're gonna make me spell it out?" Her words were breathy and halted as she held back her moans. 

"You know, English isn't my first language." He mumbled against her skin.

"Mine, either." She whispered, rolling them so that she was on top again. "No one can make me scream and shudder like you can, Loki. Not Steve, not Clint, not Coulson's little spy... and Coulson, bless his soul, I thought he was good when I was a virgin, but dear God, no one's ever made me shake like you." She bit at his neck and rolled her hips against him. "I didn't know an orgasm could be so powerful until you edged me for hours before you let me cum. Your power, your stamina, the hot-and-cold of you... fuck, Loki, there is just something amazing about fucking you."

She leaned down next to his ear and whispered, "And you've got a praise kink, so all I have to do is tell you how great you are and you're hard as stone." 

"Praise kink?" His eyebrows raised as he looked up at her.

"That thing where I tell you that how fucking prodigious you are in bed and it makes you harder than before." She reached down and wrapped her hand around his length, giving it light pump.

"That's a kink? I thought everyone got horny hearing how amazing they are."

"Nope. Just freaks like you."

He reached forward and dipped his fingers between her lips, feeling the wetness there. "I seem to remember you loved hearing me praise the taste of you and how unbelievable you are with your mouth."

"Fine. Freaks like _us_." She confirmed, leaning back to give him better access to her. He took the hint and twisted his hand to push two fingers inside of her. "Fuck, Loki. Harder." He smirked as he pumped his fingers into her with more strength. She rubbed herself against him, her eyes closing in ecstasy. 

"Ready for something more substantial, my queen?"

"Oh, God, yes." She rolled sideways, lying on her back and pulling him on top of her. He slipped easily between her legs and grasped his cock at the base, sliding the head along her lips to spread her wetness around. She couldn't hold back the moan that tore from her as he sunk halfway into her. He pulled back and slammed his hips forward, his fingertips digging into her hips as she grabbed his shoulders. 

He leaned forward, burying his face in her neck. His hands slid up her back and held her to him. "You're the only one for me, too." He moaned, taking up a steady pace and kissing her neck. "All these Asgardian women lining up to lay with Odin, none hold a candle to you." He groaned into her neck as she wrapped her legs around him and changed the angle he was hitting. "Not one of the hundreds of women I've been with, none of them have felt a fraction as marvelous as you. The muscles in your cunt are the strongest I've ever felt. How they grab my cock with such vigor..." They both moaned, a rush of heat adding to her wetness as he praised her. "The other women, they amounted to no better than my hand." 

"Steve was better than the others... but everyone else... I've learned to fake it well." 

"You've never needed to fabricate with me." He said it like a statement, but it was a question. 'Have you faked an orgasm with me?'

"Never. God, I've never needed to." She responded, shaking her head. "You're too much... too good." 

"Your words seem to be failing you, Cassandr-ah!" He groaned as she squeezed him with her inner muscles. "That's not fair."

"Oh, you don't like a bit of mischief?" She chuckled, a bit breathless.

"Oh, you know I do." He grabbed her shoulder and began to hammer into her. 

"Fuck! Yes! Gah... oh, God."

"Love it when you call... hn... me that." As her body tensed from her sudden orgasm, Loki pulled back and finished himself off with several pumps of his right hand down his length. She sat forward, covering the head of him with her mouth as he shot semen down her throat. They collapsed to the bed together and breathed heavily as they stared at the stone ceiling. "I could go again."

"No." She answered, simply. 

He nodded. "All right. Understandable. Tomorrow, I'll teach you Asgardian runes."

"Honestly, how close did the Vikings come to your language? Runic Norse, about equivalent?"

"I don't know. Your Runic Norse didn't clue you into the fact that I'd claimed you as my wife, did it?" He sat up, leaning on his right arm, and looked down at her. "You walked around with my marriage proposal etched into your chest for a year before I came back and told you what it meant."

"I'm sorry, but 'Bearer of the children of Loki, God of Lies' didn't come up in my translation." She sighed. "And that wasn't a proposal, Loki, it was a coercion." 

"More of a mandate." He smiled then flopped down next to her again. "We'll work on it tomorrow." He reached over and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm elated that you're here."

"I know." She whispered, turning over grabbing one of the pillows. "You'll have to go and be Odin again soon, Loki. Might want to compose yourself." 

"I was hoping to sleep beside you, my wife."

"Don't you think someone will notice the Allfather is missing?"

Loki sighed and sat up. "I hate that you are so often right."

"Suck it up. You asked to be king. You fought and 'died' for it." She looked up at him, bunching the pillow up and shoving it under her head.

"Indeed." Loki sighed, grabbing his clothes. "Tomorrow. Library. And then a bit of theater?"

"I'm not here for theater."

"You're not here for sex, either, but here we are." 

"Maybe. But I've got to get research done."

Loki rolled his eyes as he pulled his armor over his head. "Yes. The Infinity Stones. Of course." Loki smiled as he turned back to her, pulling his hair to rest on his back. "Have you ever _seen_ the Tesseract? It's in the vault. You can research it up close."

"I've seen the Mind Stone, which was in your little scepter." Cassie grabbed the blanket and pulled it across her body, not bothering to put her clothes back on. 

Loki chuckled. "Right. Tomorrow."

"You don't need to keep repeating yourself. I'll still be here tomorrow."

"Good." He walked toward the door, disguising himself as a guard as he opened it. "Tomorrow." He said, before disappearing out the door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She spent the next several weeks in the library, taking breaks when Loki wore her down and spending her nights with him in her bed. Cassie was halfway through a manuscript detailing the creation of the Mind Stone when thudding footsteps echoed through the library. She looked up to see Thor approaching, Loki being dragged by his hair behind him. "Thor! You're back !" She said, standing.

"Cassie. How did you get here?"

She raised an eyebrow and looked pointedly behind him. "Loki was in charge. All I had to do was ask."

"You _knew_ he stole the throne."

"I tried to tell you. You didn't believe me."

"You should have persisted!"

"Right, and ruin Christmas by explaining that Loki told me about it when I was Joanna and I didn't tell anybody after I got back from Austria because I was in a free-fall breakdown and after that, we had Ultron to worry about? Because bringing up Ultron is a surefire way to kill any party."

"This is more important than your party!" Thor stepped forward, intimidatingly, but Cassie didn't back down.

"That party was about _family_ , Swayze! If you still consider me a sister, you will understand that it may not have been important to _anyone_ else, but it was important to _me_. And Loki might be a self-obsessed crumb, but he hasn't been a terrible king. Asgard has been fairly happy with his rule."

"Are you defending him? Why are you defending- Loki's enchanted you again."

"Have not!" Loki stepped to Thor's side. "She came here on her own, she's stayed on her own. I haven't enchanted her in years."

"Yeah. Since before Sokovia, right?"

"Right."

"Anyway, Thor. He hasn't been a terrible king. Ask around."

"Oh, yes. Asgard's enemies love Loki as king. Do you know how much discord Odin's very _presence_ keeps at bay?"

"Okay, I get it, but he's been king for, what, 4 years? That's nothing to you guys. That's a presidential term. How much do you really think he fucked up in 4 years?"

"We'll see when we get Father home."

"We're going to Earth. I thought you might like to come." Loki said, softly.

"Oh, yeah. Just let me run to get changed."

"No need." Loki said, as their clothes shifted from traditional Asgardian garb and armor to a black suit and tie, a jean jacket over a hoodie and baggy jeans, and a green tank top and hip-hugger jeans with black stiletto boots. Mjolnir suddenly changed to look like an umbrella.

She looked down, then tossed a glare to the God of Mischief. "Really, Loki?"

"What? You'll blend right in in New York, I'm positive."

"Where's my bra?"

"You haven't worn one the entire time you've been here."

"Because Asgardian women don't know what bras even _are_. Americans _do_. Do you really want every man we pass to be staring at my chest? I thought you the possessive type."

"You-" He sighed and a bra appeared in the illusion. "You still don't actually _have_ a bra on."

"But it _looks_ like I'm wearing one so that'll keep people from talking shit." 

Thor's eyebrows tucked together. "Why are you speaking to him like that? Like you're friends?"

Cassie and Loki exchanged a look, then Cassie shrugged. "Oh, uh, SHIELD messed with my brain so my memories are kinda wonky. So, while I know that he's an irredeemable piece of shit, I'm able to deal with him without an emotional response. So we've been able to talk and he is a brilliant conversationalist." She answered, walking away toward the library doors.

"Yes, talking is the one thing Loki excels at. Must be why he does so incessantly."

"'Incessantly'. That's such a big word for you, Thor." Loki teased.

A shrill whistle went across the air. "Boys! Come on." Cassie called from halfway down the stairs.

"Coming!" Loki called.

Thor's eyebrows came together in confusion again as Loki rushed after her. "It won't work." Thor caught up with the trickster easily.

"What won't work?"

"Whatever scheme you think you're running on her. She lost her memories, not her sense."

Loki smiled, turning to Thor as they quickly descended the staircase. "I'm not scheming. For once, I've no plans, no tricks. I'm simply spending time with her while she's here on Asgard doing her research and hoping that she'll choose to stay with me afterward based purely on the merits of my personality."

"I wasn't aware you  _had_ a personality, Loki."

"Me? The entirety of your personality lies in Mjolnir." Loki shot back. 

By the time they caught up with her, Cassie was at the Bifrost arguing with Skurge. "Have you forgotten who I am? Friend of Thor, wife of Loki. You know... Loki, who was pretending to be Odin, who gave you this position? You've _already_ forgotten that Loki was Odin, haven't you?"

"I... uh..."

"Just open the damn bridge to Midgard, you dumbbell!" 

"Skurge. What are you thinking of? Open the Bifrost." Loki demanded. Skurge nodded and twisted the sword in the pedestal. 

"Where you picked me up would be just fine." Cassie said, as the portal opened and she smiled. "See you on the other side." She jumped into the portal and relished the sight of space passing by her. 

She looked up at Clint's building, then moved on, walking to the end of the alley. "Where'd you leave Father?" Thor demanded as he and Loki appeared and the Bifrost disappeared.

Loki followed Cassie to the end of the alley. "This is Clinton's building?" She nodded. "We can walk from here."

The three of them stared at the bulldozers demolishing the building that used to be Shady Acres Rest Home, none of them quite sure what to say. "I swear I left him right here." Loki finally spoke up.

"Right here on the sidewalk, or right there where the building's being demolished?" Thor asked, his hand tightening on the umbrella's handle. "Great planning."

"How was I supposed to know? I can't see into the future. I'm not a witch."

"No? Then, why do you dress like one?" Thor indicated his black clothing.

"Hey."

"You look fine." Cassie comforted, patting his shoulder. 

"Ask him." A female voice whispered behind them.

Two women walked up, holding their phones up. "Um, hi! Would you mind taking a picture with us?" The second one gushed at Thor.

"Oh, sure." Thor answered, causing Loki to roll his eyes. "Start figuring out where he is." He smiled at the camera phone.

"Sorry to hear that Jane dumped you." The woman said as she walked away with her friend.

"She didn't dump me, you know." Thor said, stepping back up to Loki and Cassie. "I dumped her. It was a mutual dumping."

"Whoa, what is..." Cassie looked at Loki's feet as a swirl of orange light appeared. 

"What's this? Wh-what are you doing?" 

"This isn't me." Loki's eyes went wide before he disappeared. 

"Loki?" Thor asked, poking the ground where the Jotun used to stand. 

Cassie leaned down and picked up a small card with elegant lettering on it. "177A Bleecker Street." Her shoulders slumped as she handed the card to Thor. "I know where he is." 

"What is this? Where is he?"

"There's a guy... a surgeon named Strange who lives in Greenwich Village. He's... complicated. Let's grab a cab." She stepped to the street and put her hand up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bear with me, folks. She's a bit of a greedy bitch here, I know, but sometimes people do bad things for no reason other than the fact that it feels good and they don't think they'll get caught.


	2. Lost and Found

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cassie's 'What happens on Asgard, stays on Asgard' attitude gets a reality check when confronted with Steve's emotions and her own lack of control when it comes to Loki. Trapped on Sakaar with nothing but Loki and regret, whatever will she do?

"I  _told_ you, though. I said, 'What if he took over for Odin back when you still thought he was dead?' and you and Tony both looked at me like I'd lost my mind and assured me that was impossible." Cassie climbed out of the cab in front of the Bleecker Street house with the Seal of the Vishanti on the window.

"But you knew. It wasn't a far-fetched guess, but a fact that you had foreknowledge of. Why didn't you just admit that you knew because he'd told you?" Thor slammed the car door behind him.

"Because then I would have been asked questions about why I hadn't said something sooner and, honestly Thor, I still don't have the answer to that question, so I felt it was something you would figure out later... And you did."

"It's been two _years_."

"Again, you're almost 1500! 2 years is _nothing_." Cassie knocked on the door and was suddenly inside. She and Thor looked around before appearing at the bottom of a grand staircase.

"Thor Odinson." A figure at the top of the stairs floated toward them. "God of thunder." He looked at the umbrella. "You can put down the umbrella." Thor looked at Mjolnir before shrugging and placing the hammer-brella in an umbrella stand. The bearded man with the cape turned to Cassie next. "Cassandra Campbell. Daughter of the Red Skull. The youngest Avenger."

"If you're gonna go through my titles, we'll be here a while." She said as Thor started messing with a metal sculpture of small daggers. 

"So, Earth has, uh, wizards now, huh?" Thor asked as he dropped several of the daggers.

"The preferred term is 'Master of the Mystic Arts'. You can leave that now."

"I liked 'wizard'. Who are you and why should we care?"

"My name is Doctor Stephen Strange and I have some questions for you. Take a seat." He responded and the three of them were suddenly sitting in chairs upstairs. "Tea?" He offered as a teacup appeared in each of their hands.

Cassie took a drink of it as Thor looked at it with disdain. "I don't drink tea."

"Well, what do you drink?"

"Not tea." A large beer mug appeared in Thor's hand, instead, which he appraised appreciatively.

"So, I keep a watch list of individuals and beings from other worlds and realms that may be a threat to this world. Your adopted brother, Loki, is one of those beings." He chuckled.

"He's a worthy inclusion."

Cassie snorted into her teacup and rolled her eyes, causing Strange to turn to her. "Something to add?"

"I just don't think Loki's that big of a threat." She responded, setting the cup down. " _I_ do just fine against him."

"Now, is this the wife talking or the Avenger? Or maybe the HYDRA queen? There's just so many facets of your personality. I can't keep up."

Cassie smiled tightly at him. "Don't think I'm afraid to beat up a handicapped person, Doc."

"Handicapped?" Thor questioned, setting his beer to rest on his thigh. 

"Yeah. His hands are all fucked up. A consequence of driving while arrogant." Her eyes didn't leave Strange as she spoke. "You're not the only one with a state-of-the-art information apparatus. Mine's just more tech than magic."

"So, Stark knows who I am. All right." Strange was completely unrattled by the threat. "Why would you bring Loki here?" 

"We're looking for my father."

"So, if I were to tell you where Odin was all parties concerned would promptly return to Asgard?"

"Yes, promptly." Thor responded.

"Great. I'll help you." Strange stood.

"In the interest of honesty, I'll probably make a detour upstate before heading back to Asgard." Cassie stood.

"To the Compound? Good. It's where you belong."

"Excuse me?" 

"You are an Avenger, right?"

"As am I." Thor defended, standing.

"She knows what I'm talking about. Or, she will. You're gonna need this." Strange handed her a smart phone before turning back to Thor.

She looked down at it, hitting the button to unlock it. "This is my... how did you get my cell phone?"

"I'm a wizard." He answered, facetiously. 

"If you knew where he was, why didn't you call me?"

"I have to tell you, he was adamant that he not be disturbed. Your father said he had chosen to remain in exile. And you don't have a phone." 

"No. I don't have a-a phone, but you could have sent an electronic letter. It's called an e-mail."

"Yeah. Do you have a computer?"

"No. What for? Anyway, my father is no longer in exile, so if you could tell me where he is, I can take him home."

"Gladly. He's in Norway." The three of them were suddenly in front of the bookcase, Thor looking off-balance. "Let's see whether this incantation needs any Asgardian modifications. Nope!" He shut the book and they moved around the shelf, Thor grabbing onto the bookshelf to balance himself. "Oh, we don't need that." They were suddenly at the top of the stairs.

"Would you _stop_ doing that?" Thor growled.

"Can I- I need a- Just one strand of your hair." 

"Let me explain something: My hair is not to be meddled with." Thor responded as Strange appeared behind him and pulled a strand of blond hair out of his ponytail. They appeared downstairs and Thor looked around. "Could've just walked."

"He's waiting for you." The wizard said, indicating at the portal with a green Norwegian countryside on the other side.

"All right."

"Uh, don't forget your umbrella." 

"Oh, yes." Thor put out his hand and Cassie cringed as the sound of Mjolnir crashing through the cases upstairs. "Ss-sorry." Mjolnir flew to his hand and he nodded. "And I suppose I need my brother back." 

"Oh, yeah, right." Stephen maneuvered his hands around and a portal opened in the air above them. 

The sound of Loki screaming greeted them as he fell through the portal and hit the floor. "I have been _falling_ for 30 minutes!" 

Cassie chuckled as Loki scrambled to his feet. "Closer to an hour, actually."

Strange looked to Thor. "You can handle him from here." 

"Yes, of course. Thank you very much for your help." 

" _Handle_ me? Who are you?" Loki demanded.

"Loki." Cassie and Thor both chided.

"You think you're some kind of sorcerer? Don't think for one minute, you second-rate-"

"Okay. Bye-bye." Strange moved the portal toward them and suddenly they were in Norway with no portal to be seen. 

Birdsong and the sound of waves, the smell of crisp air and ocean spray invaded their senses as their eyes landed on Odin. Cassie shook her head, a deep feeling of unworthiness spreading within her as the brothers stepped closer to him. She walked away, pulling her phone out of her pocket and unlocking it. There were a half dozen new voicemail messages and she realized that she hadn't seen the phone since before she was Cat Carpenter. She sat on the grass and put the phone to her ear. 

**_I called to hear your voice. I know you-you aren't ever gonna hear this message... well, not until we find you. Wanda said I should write down my thoughts, but... but I wanted to hear your voicemail message. The way you say 'Leave a message' with that upward inflection and... how I can tell you're smiling when you say 'I'll call you back when I get done saving the world'. I should have... I should have done more to stop Natasha. I should have saved you. I'm sorry. I'm so... I'm so sorry._ **

Cassie swallowed as Steve's words cut out. She bit her lip as the next message played. **_I think we fucked up._**  Clint's voice, colored by liquor, made her clench her jaw. **_I think we fu-fucked... he wasn't supposed to-you wasn't supposed to... I miss you so much. I keep tryin' with Cat and she doesn't give a fuck 'bout- I just want you back. God, I never should have hit you. I'm sorry. Fuck, I... you were supposed to be my wife and now... you're right there on the other side of the bus and you look at me like I'm some kinda creepy uncle and... maybe we shouldn'ta fucked wit' your head but... I didn't know how to fix it. Cassie, I just miss you and... and I'm sorry. We fucked up so much._**

Cassie sighed as the next message started. **_Sam was flipping through channels earlier and Labyrinth was on, made me think of you. I think about you a lot, actually. Bucky's worried about me. I guess I'm not eating enough. Not sleeping enough. Just can't... stop thinking about you. We're still looking for you. I haven't given up hope. We'll keep looking. We'll find you. I promise we'll find you._**

**_Just called to hear your voicemail again._** The next message started.  ** _I won't do it anymore. Maybe a few more times. But I won't leave you any more messages. I feel like I'm going to fill your voicemail box with my nonsense. We're still looking. I'll never give up on you._**

**_So, this is day 5 of you being on Asgard and I know that you aren't going to hear this until you get back, but... I wanted to let you know that I'm... I'm thinking of you and I'm calling Tony every day to make certain that you're still safe and he says you've been calling him every day, too, and I can't wait until you get back here. I wants us to... there's so much I want to say to you and I'm afraid that maybe I'm imagining this as something bigger than it really is, but... I... I sound like an idiot, but I think I might love-_ **

"This was your doing." Thor's angry words pulled Cassie's attention away from her phone. Odin was gone. The brothers stood on the cliff as a black smoke swirled in front of them.

Cassie jumped up and ran over to them. "What happened?"

"Father is dead and his life force was the only thing keeping our sister, Hela, from destroying everything." Thor answered, as they all turned to the rapidly-forming black portal.

"Great." Cassie responded as a tall woman with black hair and a black and green outfit stepped out of the portal.

"So, he's gone. That's a shame. Would've liked to have seen that."

"You must be Hela." Thor started. "I'm Thor, son of Odin."

"Really? You don't look like him."

"Perhaps we can come to an arrangement." Loki tried.

"You  _sound_ like him." Hela straightened slightly. "Kneel."

"I beg your pardon?" Loki said, disbelieving.

"Kneel... before your queen."

"I don't think so." Thor answered, throwing Mjolnir at Hela's face. The woman put her hand out and stopped the hammer in midair. "That's not possible." 

"Darling, you have no _idea_ what's possible." Hela smiled as cracks appeared on the surface of the hammer before it exploded with power, crumbled and broke into pieces. She dropped the chunks to the grass and raised her hands, running them across her hair to turn into a black horned helmet. 

She began advancing on them and Thor looked ready to fight, but Loki turned, putting his arms around Cassie and Thor as he shouted, "Bring us back!"

"No!" Thor shouted as the Bifrost appeared, taking them away from Norway. "Loki!" Thor shouted a warning as Hela followed them through the wormhole. Loki dodged her attack and grabbed onto Cassie, holding her to him protectively as Hela's attack pushed them out of the Bifrost stream. 

Cassie sat up in a pile of trash, pain radiating through her body. Loki was immediately in front of her. "Are you all right? Are you hurt? Falling off the Bifrost-"

She grabbed his wrist and pulled herself out of the trash pile. She looked down, realizing that her clothes had changed back to her Asgardian dress at some point during the scuffle. "Survivable, but incredibly painful. You were right." She looked around. "Where are we?"

Loki stood tall beside her, examining their surroundings. "I don't know. I've never seen this planet. Looks... disgusting."

"Well, it's not Asgard, and it's not Midgard, so we're both very far from home." She sighed and fought the panic bubbling up inside of her. "And I left the ICD on Asgard, so I can't call for help. We're stranded, stuck here where the lost socks end up."

"What?" Loki asked, brushing her shoulders off.

She flinched away from his touch and growled. "This is a giant Lost and Found! Look!" She pointed at the sky, where several small portals were visible. "I'll bet those portals are all over this planet, just sucking in shit from space and depositing it here. And nothing makes it back through those raw portals, because they'll get torn apart on the way back through."

"Ooh, she's a smart one. I like that in a woman. That, and natural breasts. I like this woman." A voice behind them made them turn. "I'm the Grandmaster. I run this place."

"And what is this place?" Cassie asked, putting a hand out to calm Loki's jealous outburst she could feel brewing. 

"Well, I call it Sakaar, but 'Giant Lost and Found' isn't inaccurate. What should I call _you_?"

Loki stepped in front of her, smiling at the Grandmaster with his most charming smile. "I'm Loki Laufeyson of Jotunheim and this is my wife, Cassie Campbell of Midgard."

"Your wife, huh? That's unfortunate. She's not your _only_ wife, is she? Would you be willing to trade?"

"Both of our planets champion monogamy. No trades. Sorry." She responded with a smile.

"Oh, well. Maybe in a few millenia, you'll change your mind. Come on. I'll show you the best view Sakaar has to offer."

"The best view of a scrap heap. Wonderful." Loki whispered as they followed the Grandmaster.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The color scheme and designs of the tower that the Grandmaster favored reminded Cassie of an old comic book. The Grandmaster set them up in an apartment halfway up the tower, but she was less interested in the bed and bath than she was the pieces of trash outside the window. Loki came up behind her, smelling of the oils and soaps of the bath. "You should have gotten in. Then, we'd both smell good." He kissed the top of her head and wrapped his arms loosely around her shoulders.

"I don't care about smelling good. You and the Grandmaster will hit on me, regardless." She continued staring out the window, pushing his arms off of her.

"What's wrong?" Loki moved around her to lean against the window, his waist wrapped in a thick red towel and nothing else on his pale skin.

"I was just thinking that, if Tony were here, he'd be able to build something from all this trash. He built the first Iron Man suit out of scraps, just like this. Just... far less of it. Tony'd be able to get us home." 

"Even Stark couldn't build anything that could get us through one of those wormholes. You've said, yourself; anything tries to go back will get torn apart."

"Tony would find a way past that. He's so fuckin' smart that he'd figure it out."

"Stark is not infallible!" Loki exclaimed. He sighed, his facial expression going soft. "And you are just as smart as he. I know you pine for home, that you miss Stark and Earth, your native comforts, but..." He pushed off from the window and wrapped her in his arms again. "This is where we are, now. You and I, we are very good at extemporizing. We take whatever is handed to us and we turn it into gold. We take whatever garbage planet we land on and we turn it into our kingdom."

She shook her head as he held her against his chest, not pushing him away this time. "I just... when I agreed to go on the research mission, I never really imagined that... that I'd never get to go home." Tears pricked at her eyes as she snaked her arms around his waist, trying to take any comfort she could. "I didn't consider that I might never see Tony or... or Steve again." 

"Well, at least now you won't ever have to explain to the soldier that you've been in my arms since the day you arrived on Asgard."

"Yeah, I wasn't _planning_ to ever tell him." She responded, wiping at her eyes with the back of her hand and pushing down the guilt she felt about that.

"I thought you hated liars." He pulled back, smiling down at her. "And, you do know that Barton has likely already told Rogers about our trysts. He has to know by now that you've been in my bed."

"Mostly, Loki, you've been in _mine_." She said, pulling away from him and looking around the apartment. "But since we're sharing a place here, I guess we're going to be-"

"Able to sleep next to each other. Finally in a marital bed."

"I'm sure we can get a couch for you to sleep on." She chuckled as she sat on the edge of said bed. "You know, I still haven't consented to being your wife. Not once have I said 'yes'. I never called to our fallen ancestry to bless our bed or promised before God to love, honor and cherish you. Didn't hop a broom, either."

"Yet, you claim to be married every time it benefits you."

"I suppose that's similar to your nativity, right? 'Loki of Asgard' whenever you want people to see you in a positive light, 'Loki of Jotunheim' whenever you want people to see you as an enemy of Asgard."

"Not an enemy of Asgard-"

"I've seen the play, Laufeyson. You hailed Malekith as 'Loki Laufeyson of Jotunheim', just as you did with the Grandmaster."

"Ah, but I announced myself to Fury and Barton as being 'of Asgard'. I had to use Jotunheim with the Grandmaster. There might be other Asgardians here, others who've fallen off the Bifrost. I'm not the first to ever do so, just the first to make it back. We assumed they all died, but what if they fell through one of those portals? No one here would be of Jotunheim." He sat next to her. "Unless they made a few advancements since I killed Laufey." He adjusted the towel over his lap and looked around the apartment.

"This is where we are. There's no Steve, no Clint, no Barnes. You don't need to save face with any of the Avengers or pretend as though you feel nothing but detestation for me."

"You're so certain that I feel _anything_ else for you?"

"In the very least, you feel lust." There was no question in his voice. "And perhaps, one day, you'll see that I'm good for more than just satisfying your base carnal needs."

They sat in silence for a few moments before Cassie looked at her lap. "When, exactly, did you fall in love with me, Loki?"

He scoffed, but decided to not lie. "I suppose I noticed it when I caught a glimpse of the real you. When I woke you in Wakanda. Up to that point, you were... physically strong but emotionally weak. You were fun to play with, great in bed, and if I'd been able to get that army from you, it would have been worth the trouble you caused me. I could ignore that I might have enjoyed being around you but... after I woke you... I immediately regretted every torture I visited upon you."

"What, were you struck with the self-aware realization that I might never want to be with the man who murdered my daughter and carved his name into my skin?"

"I wasn't expecting to  _want_ your willing participation." He licked his lips, an almost nervous action. "I'm glad that Coulson removed the mark I left upon you. It was cruel. Everything I did to you was. I thought I only wanted you for what I could get from you."

"You aren't really helping your case, here, Loki."

"Well, you _are_ the one who said I'm an irredeemable piece of shit." He stood and moved for his clothes. "And I'm being honest, which comes with great difficulty for me." He dropped the towel to the floor and stepped into his trousers.

"Well, you might not be so irredeemable, after all." She stood and walked over to the hot bath, pulling the straps of her Asgardian dress down her arms. She stepped out of the dress as it pooled at her feet, and lowered herself into the water. 

"Well, I'll take what I can get." He stared blatantly as she dipped her head under the water. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She couldn't stop thinking about home. The thought that Tony was expecting her call and it'd never come, that Fury would never get the information she'd come so far to get... and Steve. Sweet Steve who didn't want her to go to Asgard in the first place. Steve who called her voicemail just to hear her voice and never gave up on her. Steve, who deserved better than a woman like her. 

"I've heard the Grandmaster runs a game of gladiatorial combat every so often. His current champion destroyed half of the stadium last fight." Loki pulled her out of her thoughts as he placed a bowl of fruit in front of Cassie and sat next to her. "What are you working on?"

"I don't know." She answered, closing her notebook and setting it on the table with an exaggerated sigh. "I was hoping to figure out a... a workaround for the portals." 

"Trying to be Stark? You miss him so that you're emulating him?"

"You're the one who said I'm as smart as Tony and Tony could do this." She plucked an unidentifiable piece of fruit from the bowl and bit into it. "And it's not about getting back to Tony or Steve, it's about getting off of Sakaar."

"I didn't mention Rogers. And why try to leave Sakaar? We're earning the Grandmaster's favor, we're doing well-" 

" _I_  am earning the Grandmaster's favor." She said, irritated that she'd verbalized her subconscious focus on Steve. "If you really think he's keeping us around because you're so charming, then I'll have you remember that _I'm_ the one he invited to the party tonight."

"And I do so love that you continue to grab his attention."

"No, you don't, you jealous giant. You just recognize that his attraction is useful." She smirked up at him, trying to fake happiness. "Did you see the dress he asked me to wear to the party? I'm not wearing that. That's less a dress and more a scrap of fabric."

Loki held up the outfit she indicated, a gold halter top connected to an almost see-through gold miniskirt. "You're not wearing this."

"That's what I said. But I have been wearing this same dress for a week... I think. Time feels weird here. Anyway, so, I went down into the scraps and found this." She stood and pulled a bundle of red fabric from the bathtub and unraveled it. "It stinked to high Heaven when I found it, but it smells okay now. What do you think? I mean, imagine it dry, obviously." 

Loki smiled and looked her up and down as a dress appeared on her. "It looks lovely on you. It needs to be sewn on the shoulder, here." He pointed to your left shoulder, where a seam connecting the long sleeve to the dress was torn. "Formfitting, but showing very little skin. I like it." 

"Me, too. Think I might start being a freelance Scrapper. I think I'll be good at it and it'll keep me out of my head." 

"Whatever makes you happy, my queen."

"Don't do that. You aren't a king, anymore, and I'm definitely not a queen." She snapped, angrily.

Loki looked a bit taken back by her tone and the illusion of the dress disappeared from her body. "Isn't that your Avengers moniker?"

"I'm not an Avenger, anymore, either!" 

"All right. What's caused this turn in your mood?" He asked, cautiously stepping toward her.

There was no pretending to be happy, anymore, so she threw her dress back into the tub and turned to him. "Everything we had is _gone_ , Loki. Hela took Asgard. Thor is probably dead. I'm never gonna see my home again, or the Avengers, either." She shook her head. "You aren't king here. I'm not queen. I don't wanna be, don't deserve it." 

"I understand. I'm mourning the loss of _my_ home, as well, Cassandra, but I know that I have to move on. We have to move on." 

"Move on." She whispered, closing her eyes. "I should have stayed. I should have stayed on Earth. I wanted to be something bigger and better and I never should have let Fury convince me to-"

"There's no changing it, now." Loki interrupted. " _We_ are all we have, and no one leaves Sakaar. We need to let our pasts go and move on."

"You say that like it's easy! I left the closest thing I've got to a father and a great man who I could've made a real life with and now I'm never going to-"

"This is about Rogers?! How unforeseeable that you would be mourning him more than any other." Loki said, sarcastically. "You'll never see him again."

"I know!"

"And you weren't missing him much on Asgard." He added, cruelty in his tone.

"Because I thought I'd be going back to him!" Loki raised an eyebrow at her as tears formed in her eyes. "I told him that I would be his as long as he wanted me, but... I knew that I couldn't be on Asgard without fucking you. I knew that if I used your obsession with me to get there that I would... I knew before I set foot on the Bifrost... and all I can think about is, I'm stuck here with _you_ and he's back home and he doesn't know and I just wish I could talk to him and-"

"And you can't." Loki said, softly, the anger flowing out of him. "This is why you've been pushing me away since we've been on Sakaar. Why you've not let me kiss or caress you. You feel guilty."

"I _feel_ like a terrible person." She dropped to sit on the bed, tears streaming down her face.

Loki let out a breathy chuckle. "Welcome to the club, my dear." He kneeled in front of her, his facial expression softening. "I'm sorry that you're stuck here... that you're stuck here with me."

"I'm just... I never should have fucked you. You would have sent me back to Midgard, I wouldn't be here-"

"I wouldn't have." Loki admitted, tentatively moving to take her hands. "I wouldn't have sent you back. I'd've kept pursuing you until I wore you down. It was much easier with you right there on Asgard. If you'd stayed stalwart in your rejection, I would have stayed adamant in my quest to have you and you would still have ended up here."

"But I wouldn't be swimming in guilt if I had denied-"

"Stop!" Loki urged, squeezing her hands. "You didn't feel guilty when you were doing it. You enjoyed yourself. You're only feeling guilt now, why? Because you know you'll never see him again? That's all the more reason to let it go. You'll never have to deal with Rogers' sorrow at your betrayal. Besides which... it's not as though you'd never willingly laid with me before you came to Asgard." 

"It was different before. With Steve, it used to be..." She wanted to say 'casual', but she couldn't help thinking of the voicemails on her phone, which sat in a drawer across the apartment. The screen had shattered when she fell through the portal and she hadn't been able to listen to the rest of Steve's message, or the last message. "I fucked up. I fucked up." 

"You did." Loki confirmed, pulling her to stand in front of him and pushing her hair out of her face. He ran his thumbs under her eyes to wipe away her tears. "After a lifetime of doing the same, I've learned one very important lesson about turpitude: guilt about it helps no one. If ever we make it off of Sakaar, if ever you make it home, you can tell him the truth and try to make your amends, but feeling guilt will not make it better. It will just make _you_ feel worse." 

"This regret in my heart isn't going to go away just because you said... because you tell me it's stupid." She whispered, looking up at him.

He nodded. "I know. But eventually, it will ebb. And I will be here for you until, and after, it does."

She shook her head and stepped away from him. "It's weird... when you're like this."

"Like what?"

"I keep looking in your eyes for some piece of mischief but all I'm seeing is-"

"Love?" He rolled his eyes and stepped away, grabbing a piece of fruit from the bowl. "I'm in love with you. This is truth. No mischief here. You'll have to get used to it."

She sighed and sat on the edge of the bath. "Do you remember when everything made sense?"

"Yes, actually. It was about two hundred years ago for me, when I realized that Thor being crowned King of the Nine Realms was such a grave injustice that watching it happen would likely kill me. You?"

She laughed, humorlessly. "The last time I had no questions or problems, no sinking suspicion that all was wrong in the world... I was 16 years old and still in the Fridge, happily eating all of SHIELD's lies."

"What? The truth didn't liberate you?" Loki smirked at her, but she just shook her head. 

"I feel like that's a callback to earlier in our conversation, Loki." She grabbed the dress and wrung the water out of it. "I have to sew this."

"You can sew that later. You should rest. You've not been sleeping. Must be all that effort to not touch me in the night."

Cassie sighed and closed her eyes. "Don't let me sleep for more than an hour." She opened her eyes and walked to the bed.

"Whatever you want... my queen." He finished in a whisper.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So... tell me about yourselves. Midgard, go." Grandmaster demanded with a smile.

Cassie fiddled with the hem of her dress as she looked at the man. "Well, we call it 'Earth', which literally translates to 'dirt', but it's mostly covered by water. Has 7 continents. I was created on one called 'Europe', but I lived on one called 'North America'. My story's actually quite boring, mostly spent in varying degrees of captivity. Loki, though, was a prince!" She patted Loki's shoulder and stood, heading for the bar. She could hear Loki launch into an enthusiastic explanation of Laufey and Jotunheim as she refilled her glass with some unknown liquor for the third time.

"You're here for the open bar, not the conversation, I take it." A tan-skinned woman about half a foot taller than Cassie said, grabbing a bottle of her own.

"I'm, uh, not used to this... the party scene with the pounding music and flashing lights."

"Yeah? What _is_ your scene?" The woman put the bottle to her lips and downed half of it in just a few seconds.

Cassie chuckled and took a drink from her glass. "I... was a warrior. Back home, I was part of an elite team of superpowered good guys who... kept the world safe. Now, look at me. Stuck on Sakaar listening to my _husband_ brag about how his father was king."

"King? King of what?"

"Doesn't really matter. They're dead. His fathers are dead." She dismissed, before taking a deep breath. "You're not a partier, either, are you?"

"I'm a Scrapper. 142. I'm here for the bar." 

"You're the only Scrapper here. Get the feeling that Scrapper is kinda low in the caste." 

"I'm special. I'm the best. I found his champion."

"I'm, uh, Cassie. So, do you just go by 142, or-"

"Yeah." 142 finished the bottle of liquor and threw it across the room, narrowly missing Grandmaster's right hand woman, Topaz.

"That's kinda neat."

"What? My aim?"

"No. I mean, yeah, that was pretty good, but no, I mean... One of my names, and I have plenty, is 452. The number-name thing is... uh, anyway, this is very strong liquor." She said, looking down at her glass.

"Maybe you're just weak." 142 said, grabbing another bottle and walking away.

Loki approached an hour later, his trademark smile on his face, which faltered when he saw her, with her head in her hands. "What's wrong?" He whispered.

"Is this our life now?"

"What do you mean?"

"These people, Loki! These people are so vapid and vacant and stupid. If I have to have another conversation about my damn dress, I'm gonna self-immolate."

"Don't set yourself on fire. We'll just... go back to the apartment. Come on." He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and headed toward their apartment. "I told him you're a queen. Left it vague." 

"There was only one person in that room who didn't make me want to scream while I talked to her. A Scrapper. I think I _am_ going to start going through the scraps. Maybe I'll find something I can turn into a way off this planet. And anything else, I can sell." 

"Sounds like a wonderful idea, my dear." He pulled his arm off of her as soon as they were away from prying eyes and tucked his arms behind his back.

"Loki." 

"Yes?"

"You're the least terrible person on this planet."

"You're here, as well." He said, smiling.

"I know."

"You can't possibly think you're a worse person than I."

"Perception is reality, Loki. I perceive myself as terrible. I'm sure I'm not the only one who would." Loki stopped and turned, looking down at her. "If my friends knew how selfish and greedy I am... if they knew I wanted to have my cake and eat it, too..."

"Your friends aren't here, and even if they were... I think some of them would understand." Cassie snorted. "Romanoff uses sex as a weapon, she'd see nothing wrong with you taking some physical pleasure where you can. Stark spent much of his life bouncing from one encounter to the next with no thought to consequence. Barton has more notches on his belt than you can rightly imagine. I've lived hundreds of years and I'm impressed by his virility."

"But Steve-"

"Steve Rogers is a paragon of benevolence and compassion. Anyone engaged in a relationship with him is bound to feel unbefitting." 

"It's not that. That's not what- I _am_ unbefitting."

"No. I'm not debating this with you, my dear, because it doesn't matter." He took a deep breath and took her chin in his hand. "You did something you regret, but that doesn't make you anything like to me. Rogers would forgive you, because he's a good man."

She pulled back. "I don't deserve a good man. I threw away a good man's trust... I wasn't even gone a day and..."

"And what _do_ you deserve?"

She shook her head and slowly started down the hall again. "I suppose I deserve you. We're both murders, liars, neither of us are good people."

"But we're good together. We play against each other well." He followed her, arms folded behind his back again. "You could do worse. You have done... with Barton."

"Don't... you know, I thought I was better than him, but... I'm just a different kind of shitty." She got into the elevator and hit the button for their floor as Loki followed. They traveled in silence to their apartment and Cassie threw herself onto the bed. Loki looked down at her as she adjusted the pillow under her head, then moved to take his armor off. He stepped away to lie on the couch she'd started 'accidentally' falling asleep on a few days before, but she grabbed his hand. He didn't say a word, looking down at her hand grasping his. "I don't want to be alone, Loki." 

"Are you certain you want-"

"No." She shook her head, pulling him down to lie on top of her. "It's not about that. It's about what I deserve." She buried her hand in his oleaginous hair and pulled him down for a kiss. 

Loki didn't question it a second time. It had been far too long since she invited his touch, didn't flinch away from him. He maneuvered himself between her legs, grasping at her thighs as his tongue explored the whiskey and honey taste of the inside of her mouth that was subtly shining through the taste of the Grandmaster's harshly fortified wine. Her hand slid to the back of his neck, leveraging herself against him to sit up and pull the skirt of her dress up further. She pulled away enough to untie his pants and started pushing them down his legs, but he grabbed her hands and pulled them over her head. "We aren't rushing this." He leaned down, softly pressing a kiss to her lips.

"Loki. This isn't... what I... just fuck me." She demanded as he kissed his way down her neck, the hand that wasn't holding her wrists grasping at her hip. "Please, Loki, I need-"

"No." He growled into her ear. "I've been _fucking_ you at every opportunity for 3 years. I told you, the situation is altered."

"I don't want to hear-"

Loki leaned up, looking into her eyes. "I don't intend to _say_ it, Cassandra. I intend to show you. I'm not the good man you wanted; I'm a terrible person. But I'm the one who is here. I'm the one who knows, beyond any doubt, that you belong with me. And I said 'with', not 'to'. I don't want to own you, anymore. I don't want to rule. I want to worship every inch of you until you understand that you deserve much better than me. You deserve everything." Loki kissed the corner of her eye, getting rid of the tear that had started to form there. "But you belong with me. By the Nine, Cassie, tell me that you don't feel we're meant for more than just animalistic shows of carnal passion. Tell me that you haven't ever felt drawn to me."

She broke eye contact and turned her head away. She couldn't lie to him. She couldn't remember the last time she'd even  _tried_ to get away with more than a half-truth with him. He let go of her wrists and let his hands cascade down her body, fingertips cataloging every line and divet of her musculature. "We belong together. I swear, Odin must have had a hand in your creation. Set you in my path to torture me." He whispered, moving to kiss her neck again. "Or worse, to _pacify_ me. I've thought about killing you every day since Wakanda, rid myself of this weakness, but even my fantasies ended just... like... this." She moaned as he punctuated each word with a nip to her collarbone. "It's as though HYDRA handcrafted you for me. Perhaps Odin was whispering in Strucker's ear." 

He reached down and pulled her skirt up higher, sliding down her body as he bunched the fabric at her waist. "I should have killed you in Austria. Before you afflicted me with this damnable curse. Before you had opportunity to crawl into my essence and soften it from within like fruit rotting."

"God, stop talking." She begged as his breath skated across her inner thighs. "You said you weren't going to say it."

"I've not said the words, have I?" He pressed a kiss to her thigh and ran his hands up to grab her ass tightly. 

"You've said all of the _other_ words. Please, Loki, shut up." 

"Anything for you, my dear." He said, before delving between her legs, licking long stripes from her entrance to her clit. Her hands buried in his hair, tugging lightly at the dark strands in time with the sweeps of his tongue. He used his grip on her ass to push her closer to his face. 

"Fuh-uck... thank you." She whispered, closing her eyes as two of his slender fingers pushed into her. He sucked harshly on her clit and the surrounding hood as he added another finger and started curling them as he pumped them in and out of her. Her dress was on the floor before her orgasm had finished rolling across her body. She wrapped her legs around him and tried to pull their groins together, but he pulled back, shaking his head. "Oh, dammit, Loki, don't-"

"What did I say?" 

"You speak _endlessly_." She whined. 

"No. I said, 'We are not rushing this'.

"I could finish myself." She said, harshly, as he pulled back more to kneel between her legs.

"No, you wouldn't." He pulled his tunic over his head and tossed it across the room. "Because if this were just about your physical satisfaction, you'd already _be_ finished. This is different."

"Why do you assume you know everything about-" She complained.

"Because I know. I know you and I know why you want me inside you tonight." He chuckled, airily. "You feel low. You feel like a bad person, so you wish to be treated like one. You want me to fuck you like the whore you feel you are. But that is _not_ my intention, at all."

"Then fuck off."

"No. You need what I am to give you. You need this."

"Loki, please, just..." She blinked away the tears that were forming as she looked up at him. "I don't deserve-"

"You do." He whispered, leaning down and gently pressing his lips to hers. "If you needed to be fucked, I'd gladly oblige, but you need to be loved."

"You're not supposed to say-"

"Quiet, woman." Loki kissed across her cheek and down her neck, giving attention to every inch of her skin. She closed her eyes as he took the time to worship her just like he said she deserves. By the time he finished his trek down her body, she was crying for a different reason. He moved back up her body and looked down at her. "How do you feel?"

She smiled, slightly. "Loved."

He smiled back, pushing his pants down his legs and kissing her. He put his hand in her hair and deepened the kiss as he rubbed himself against her. He took his time entering her, moving slowly once they were joined together and holding her tightly. He kissed her, deeply, and stared into her eyes as he made love to her. It was hours before he finished and he only stopped when she looked absolutely exhausted. He looked at her a bit apprehensively as she cuddled into his side and pulled the sheet up to cover them. She didn't say a word as she wrapped her arms around his slender frame and fell into a serene slumber. He smoothed down her hair and got comfortable on the bed. "Yes. I definitely should have killed you." 


	3. Scrappers

Cassie woke, for the first time in a week, fully rested. Loki was sleeping peacefully beside her and she couldn't help but be grateful for him. Sure, she still felt guilty about breaking Steve's trust, screwing around on him pretty much as soon as she was off-planet, but what could she do about it? She could work on getting back, getting home, and beg for forgiveness. And she shouldn't hate herself for being drawn to Loki. She couldn't help her reaction to him. Her lovemap is distorted.

She rolled her eyes as she silently got out of bed. What did 'lovemap' even mean? She was sure it was nonsense that Cat pulled out of her ass, but she'd made a lot of bad choices in a short amount of time, all to do with love and sex. She preferred to think she was just a good, old-fashioned shit person (she _had_ slept with a married man and sent his wife video), but maybe the lovemap thing had something to do with her inability to say 'no' to Loki. Or maybe... "Maybe I'm just a slut." She muttered to herself as she pulled her newly-cleaned Asgardian dress on over her head and walked out into the hall.

And what was that bullshit Loki was spouting at the beginning? 'Odin must've been in Strucker's ear'? What? Is Loki smoking something, or was he fucking with her? The idea that Odin had descended to Midgard to give HYDRA tips on making humans was ridiculous! There's no way anyone could have known she'd be in his path the day he took Stark Tower. Even Odin couldn't have planned out that she'd be in New York when the Invasion happened. It'd be nice if it were true, because then it wouldn't be her fault but, she knew that it was. She _could_ keep herself from having sex with Loki, she just didn't want to.

As she picked through the garbage a mile out from the gates surrounding the tower, a group of Scrappers approached. "You're one of the boss man's women, ain't'cha?"

"Dressed like that, she ain' a Scrappa!"

"I'm whatever I wanna be. I'm headstrong and independent." She said, kicking a piece of trash out of her way. 

"I think she looks like food."

"I think we should probably ask the Grandmaster before eat her."

"I didn't think the Grandmaster cared much about what his people do. If they kill each other, he seems a bit indifferent." Cassie smiled at them.

"Well, then. Sounds like she's volunteering, eh?" They quickly surrounded her. 

"Oh, sweethearts. I meant you." She stepped on a pipe and flipped it up into her hand. She felt invigorated by the time the last Scrapper hit the ground, like maybe everything was going to be okay and maybe she'd be all right on Sakaar. For one thing, she never had to keep her anger in check on the trash planet.

"I wanna fight." She stepped in front of the Grandmaster and Loki, who was in the middle of an enthusiastic explanation of how he almost took over Midgard.

"I'm sorry, what?" Loki smiled at Grandmaster, then stood. "Just a... let me talk to my wife."

"I wanna fight. He runs a coliseum. I wanna fight." Loki pulled her away, shushing her all along. "Loki, get off!"

"You want to fight? Are you insane? You want to fight in his coliseum? The champion-"

"I didn't say I wanted to fight the champion, I said I want to fight. Maybe one of the easier gladiators. I don't know. I just... I got into this fight with these Scrappers earlier and... I almost forgot how much I love cracking skulls, you know? I just- maybe I don't fight in the stadium, but I want to train with them, at least. Okay?"

"The Grandmaster thinks you're a queen. Not very many queens would fight or train with slaves."

"Well, I'm not just any queen, am I?"

Loki shook his head, disappointed. "Fine. I'll ask the Grandmaster about letting you meet with some of the slaves to... hone their skills."

"Fine. That's... if that's the best you can do. Thanks."

Loki smiled down at her. "So... aside from your desire to bash in the heads of those unfortunate souls in the stadium, how are you feeling today? You were gone when I woke."

She smiled at him. "I'm better. Much, much better." 

"Good. I was thinking..." Loki wrapped his arm around her shoulders and walked her toward the bar. "We should have a drink."

"And why do you want me drunk today, husband?"

"Because you're more fun when you've been drinking?" He reached over the bar and grabbed a bottle, pouring it heavily into two glasses. 

"That's not true. I was horrible to you last night."

"Maybe, you just let me... be nice when you've been drinking."

"Maybe that's true. Maybe that's just the only time I can believe you being nice."

Loki smiled as they both picked up a glass. "No, we're celebrating. Inebriation is completely voluntary."

"Celebrating? What are we celebrating?"

"You slept in my arms last night. You didn't even do that when you were Joanna."

"You didn't _tell_ me to do that when I was Joanna. I would have."

"I didn't want you to." Loki smiled and took a sip of his liquor. "I wasn't as fond of you when you were Joanna."

"Weird. I wasn't, either." She smirked as she took two long gulps of her own glass. 

Loki raised his glass, slightly, his eyes shining as he looked down at her. "To my beautiful wife, who has finally opened her heart to allow me in."

She raised her glass to clink against his. "To my mischievous husband, who surprisingly _has_ a heart." 

"Don't tell anyone." They smiled before downing their drinks.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cassie tended to go through the scrap near the tower, but she was slowly moving out from the tower. When her eyes fell on the jet, sitting between two large piles of trash, she thought she might be dreaming. A Quinjet... a fucking Quinjet!... on Sakaar. "No way." She whispered to herself as she walked up to it. She ran her hand along the outside of the quinjet to make sure she wasn't imagining it. She came to the back and opened it, walking up the ramp and running her hand across the console, which blinked to life. 

Excitement replaced the awe in her heart as the console chirped. "Voice activation required."

"Cassandra Campbell."

"Access denied."

" _Cassie_ Campbell."

"Access denied."

"Joanna Schmidt." She tried.

"Access denied."

"Erg! Please, please, don't be from before I joined." She took a deep breath and adjusted her hand on the scanner. "Lab tech." She said, deciding to try the nicknames Tony enjoyed so much.

"Access denied."

"Blondie."

"Access denied."

She sighed, again, and pulled out the last nickname she'd heard Tony call her. "Split-personality Skipper."

"Access granted. Welcome, Littlest Avenger."

She giggled as the engine roared to life. "Yes! It runs!" She pulled up the specs and nodded. "Okay. Obviously needs reinforcement, but this bitch can _fly_! I wonder how this got here. Have we lost a jet since Austria?" She shut down the quinjet and pondered over the probable history of the jet as she walked back to the tower. "There was the one with the autopilot issue and there was the one Bruce flew off in, but we found that one. So, this one's gotta be the one with the bad auto."

She almost skipped into the apartment, dropping her haul of clothes and electronics on the table as she passed. "You'll never guess what I found in the junk today."

"I think my discovery is more shocking."

"You don't even know what I found while you were shmoozing with Grandmaster." She said, flopping down on the bed to take off her dirty boots.

"I'm pretty sure I've got the more shocking-"

"I found us a way off Sakaar." She answered, proudly.

"You did?"

"Yeah! I found a fully intact, operational quinjet. There might be a problem with the autopilot but we can work around that." She picked up her pieces of fabric and dumped them in the tub to get the smell off of them. "What'd you discover?"

"Well... my brother."

"What?! Where is he? Is he okay? Where has he been?"

"The Grandmaster has him. He was brought in by a Scrapper and sold for 10 million units. They think he's a contender against the Champion."

"He was sold into slavery?! And you let that happen?"

He smirked. "I thought it rather funny, actually. He started to berate and threaten the Grandmaster, but it only further solidified him as a contender."

"He's gonna go against the monster that destroyed half the coliseum last time? You're not worried about that?"

"I've literally tried to kill him, multiple times. I'm supposed to care about him, now?"

"You _do_ care about him. You've never _actually_ wanted him dead, just gone."

"Really? Because I could swear I almost killed him with the Destroyer in New Mexico, and I almost destroyed him in Odin's bedchamber, the fight on the Bifrost, the skirmish at Stark's tower... I'm fairly certain I stabbed him with a dagger there. You're of the opinion that I wasn't trying to kill him in any instance?"

"You never thought he'd actually die. Just like you don't think he's gonna die now. But you do care whether he lives or dies. You care about Thor." 

"Do not." He defied.

"You do. You just don't want him to know you care, at all. It's why you call him 'brother' when you're talking to me, but insist upon your adoption when you speak to him... or anyone else, really. How was he?" She put her hand on Loki's cheek and caressed his pale skin. "Did he seem okay? You guys haven't seen each other since Odin died... since Hela..."

"I think he's going to try to go back."

"Back to Asgard?" She stepped away from him.

"Yes. If he beats the Champion, he wins his freedom. After he wins his freedom, he's going to try to get off Sakaar."

"'Try'? Loki, I found a quinjet. It just needs some modifications."

"There's no guarantee that'll work. I'm not trying to discourage you, I know you don't want to stay on Sakaar with me, but it wasn't made for travel over an-"

"Einstein-Rosen Bridge. I get it." She scoffed, angrily, and stomped toward the door. "I'm just as smart as Tony, but I'm not smart enough to modify his stupid fucking jet to go through a fucking wormhole?"

"I didn't say that!"

"No, you didn't, but you meant it. Or maybe you're scared of me getting off Sakaar. Maybe you think that I'll get back to Earth and you'll never see me again, and maybe that's better."

"Stop this!" Loki rushed forward and grabbed her. "Cassie, please. I might be afraid that I'll lose you, but I wouldn't make you stay here. If you have an option, take it. But don't put yourself in danger, don't go against the Goddess of Death, because you're so eager to be away from me."

She turned and slammed her hand into his chest, making him lose his breath. "I want you to come with me, you idiot. I don't want you stuck here with that lunatic Grandmaster anymore than I want to be, and I don't want to go against Hela again, but if we can get Thor out of here... he's been sold into slavery. The God of Thunder, my friend, your brother, is gonna Russel Crow it up against some savage monster that is... something we've never seen before, you know? If we can save him-"

"We can't. Not before the Contest. He has to fight and he's made it clear that he plans to win. If he survives tomorrow's fight, then we can work on extrication."

" _When_ he survives the fight. I don't care what alien behemoth the Grandmaster has. Thor will win. He's a God."

Loki smiled. "I bet against him. He might survive, but there's no doubt in my mind that he shall lose."

"Well, I'm taking my units, which I have _earned_ working not sucking up to the Grandmaster, and I'm going to place a bet for him. Right after I track him down in the dungeon and see how he's doing."

"Sifting through piles of garbage is work, now?"

"It is on Sakaar." She said, kissing his forehead and walking out the door.

***********

"Hey, Korg. Your mom sends her best." Cassie addressed the Kronan as she tossed a bindle in his lap.

"Hey, Miek! Cookies!"

"Where's the new guy?" She asked.

"Oh, just follow the freaky circle. He's 'round by Doug." Korg said, pulling open the bindle.

Cassie ran for the thunder God, leaning against the wall with his head hung, hair in his face. "Thor!"

"Cassie!" He flashed his award-winning smile at her and straightened. "Loki didn't mention you survived the fall, as well."

"Of course, I did. I'm an Avenger. We're tough." She smiled at calling herself that again.

"I suppose you're right."

"Hey, are you okay? Do you need anything? Food, water, beer?"

"No. I don't eat before a battle. It hurts my stomach." Thor admitted. "Feasts are for _after_ the battle." Cassie nodded, swiping her foot along the ground to clear it before sitting down. Thor chuckled. "Loki wouldn't even come to see me because he's afraid of getting his clothes messy. You sit right down, unafraid."

"Well, I've spent almost a month trying to salvage _any_ thing useful from the piles of scrap around the tower Grandmaster has us set up in. Mostly, I've just been finding clothes, but trust me, Thor, I've sat in worse than whatever this gray stuff is." She pushed her hair out of her face and looked up at him. "I'm so sorry about Odin. I feel like it's my-"

"No, no, it's not your-" Thor tried to talk over her, but she just got louder.

"But if I had persisted at Christmas, you would've been able to-"

"I underestimated Loki. I should have listened to you from the beginning and Odin would still live."

"What are you talking about? This is _not_ your fault!"

"Neither is it yours." Thor insisted. "This is Loki's fault."

She bit her bottom lip and nodded. "You're not wrong there, but he has been trying."

"Trying to fool you, perhaps. I have known Loki for a thousand years. He will never change."

"Exactly. He's done some fucked-up things for power, but he's never been evil. Just... misguided and ambitious."

"Oh, I was wrong. You _did_ lose your mind when you lost your memories."

Cassie laughed, lightly, at that. "Maybe. Definitely not the woman I used to be, but I think that's good. I mean, when you think back to who you were before your exile, hot-headed and violent, don't you kinda hate him?"

"But I came back _better_. You came back crazier."

She laughed loudly at that one. "Every time they mess with my head, I come back crazier than before."

"What happened?" Thor seemed eager to focus on something other than him.

"Oh... things kinda went to shit after Christmas. Uh, there was a fight in Africa and some civilians died. It got blamed on us. The United Nations decided that we, superheroes, needed to be controlled."

"Controlled?"

"Yeah. We can't just run around being heroes. The UN needs to tell us when and where to go beat people up." She tucked her hair behind her ears and looked up at him. "They wanted us to sign these 'Sokovia Accords'. The Accords said we'd go to jail if we... did our damn jobs without their consent. I didn't like it, didn't want to sign. Clint, Steve, Sam, Wanda, we were... _not_ okay with letting politics into our heroing. Tony, Natasha, the Vision, and Rhodes, they signed immediately. Like, they barely even thought about it."

She adjusted herself, tucking her legs under her body. "It would've been okay. We _could've_ been okay, but then Steve's best friend from the '40s got framed for a bombing in Vienna. Steve couldn't let him be brought in by a bunch of rando German paramilitary guys, so he and Sam went to get him... which was against the Accords."

"So, Rogers was imprisoned."

"No. But Bucky was. Like I said, though, it was a trick. This Sokovian man, Helmut Zemo, his family lived on the outskirts of Novi Grad. When Ultron rose the city up, their house collapsed on them. They died because of our fight and I guess Lagos triggered something in him. He decided he had to destroy us. He used Bucky as a weapon, to further split us. I mean, I don't think he knew that Barnes would be the catalyst for my break-up with Clint, but that's just another further split in our team."

"You and Clint broke up?"

"Yeah, and not very amicably."

"I'm sorry. You know, Jane and I-"

"I know. I heard. I'm sorry. Some women can't do the 'waiting around while the man you love saves lives' thing."

"How did Barnes cause your break-up with Barton?" 

"Mostly indirectly. I was attracted to Barnes. He's an attractive man, but so are you and that's never been an issue. It wasn't a huge deal. Clint's fit about it, that was a deal, but not a deal- _breaker_. But I kissed him. I kissed Barnes because, in that moment, I needed to do something stupid." Thor's confusion was palpable. "Half of the people I cared about were in prison and the other half were responsible for them being there. It was just Steve, Bucky and me. So, I kissed them both, because life is too short to be smart all the time. Kissing Steve was a bit heartbreaking, actually."

She expected him to ask 'why', but he just nodded and said, "Because it didn't feel like 'something stupid'."

"Exactly. Anyway, the way that Barnes most impacted my break-up with Clint wasn't even the kiss, though. See, HYDRA, they..." She struggled for the words that Thor would understand. "HYDRA enchanted Bucky and me, gave us both a set of words that would cause us to become different. Zemo found Bucky's words, turned him into a... a mindless machine, only concerned with his mission. Whatever Zemo gave him as a mission, that was all Bucky could do. Because Zemo found the book that had the words, Loki was able to find it, and he used my words on me. He thought it would make me like Bucky, take orders. Instead, it made me remember my childhood, everything Strucker taught me when I was young." 

She scratched at the back of her neck. "I went back to the farm after. I still felt like me, mostly, I just was a little more... more of a warrior. Clint thought I was enchanted, that Loki was controlling me, and he hit me. I would have laid down and let that happen before, but not anymore." She shook her head. "I freaked out about it. I broke his hand and a couple of his ribs, told him that I was gonna take over HYDRA and kill the team. I didn't mean it, of course, but... that was kinda the end of me and Clint. I, uh, did take over HYDRA, temporarily. I had nowhere else to go, because our teammates all wanted to erase the memories that Loki made me remember. They wanted to change me, again, and I wanted nothing to do with that, so I used HYDRA's resources to keep them at bay until I got Stark to listen to me and once I got Stark on my side, I was able to come back to the Tower and I started dating Steve."

"Really?" Thor's eyes lit up. "I've always _thought_ you and Rogers were much better match."

She nodded, smiling sadly. "We were. We were great together, especially once I stopped holding my true self back... but Clint, he didn't want to let go. He wanted to erase my childhood and take me back to the half-fake person I was when we met. He went to Romanoff and Coulson, had them grab me and put a whole new life of memories in my head. I couldn't remember anything about myself. I couldn't remember you or my prior relationships with any of you. It was terrible." She ran her hand through her hair, then placed it behind her ears, again. "Anyway, I lived as this other woman for 3 months before Stark and Steve rescued me, or rather, they showed me the truth and I made Coulson fix me."

"And then you went to Asgard?"

"I needed time." She chuckled. "I have an overabundance now." 

Thor laughed. "Well, once I earn my freedom, we'll go back to Asgard, stop Hela and get you back to Earth with Steve."

"I would love that." Her words were stilted. She would love to see Steve but that was complicated.

"And you can stop having sex with Loki." Cassie opened her mouth to argue, but nothing came out. "I'm not stupid. You were on Asgard for months. Loki wasn't keeping you there out of his own goodness, you had to have been doing something in _his_ interest. And you've been here for weeks, thinking you were alone with no one except him. If you weren't having sex with him before, you've definitely been sleeping in the same bed here on Sakaar."

She shrugged. "Like I said, Loki's been trying... and people have needs and Loki happens to be very good at satisfying mine."

"I didn't need to know that." Thor responded. 

She laughed. "Come on. They don't call 'em 'Frost Giants' ironically."

"Are you certain that you aren't Stark's daughter because he said something very similar once?"

"I wish. Rather be Stark than a Schmidt, which is why I'm a Campbell."

"So, what do you know about the Champion?"

"Not much. Scrapper 142 brought it in. He's big. He's strong. He destroyed half the coliseum last fight. They've been rebuilding the entire time Loki and I have been here, so we haven't had a chance to see him in action." She reached forward and put her hand on his forearm. "But you can beat whatever the Grandmaster has waiting for you. You are Thor, son of Odin. You're the God of Thunder. You're my brother and nothing can stop you."

Thor put his hand over hers. "Thank you. It is good to know that someone other than the Kronan will be rooting for me."

"I bet half of my units on you."

"And Loki bet the other half against me."

"No, no. Those are his units. We don't mix money. I don't trust him enough for that."

"Wise. So, how long will you be down here with me?"

"Oh, I can come and go as I please. I don't have a Taser embedded in my neck. Seriously, Thor, how'd you let that happen?"

"I thought she was saving me from the ones trying to eat me."

"Oh, no. See, most new people are food for the Scrappers, but fighters, they get sold into the Contest. You were a major payday."

"How were you not sold into the Contest? Especially with your new, more warrior-like personality, you would have been a major payday, too."

"Because we weren't found by the Scrappers. We were found by the Grandmaster, himself, who was likely so distracted by _these_..." She grabbed her breasts. "...that he forgot to ask if we could fight. He let me down here to train with Korg a few times, but mostly he assumes we're both royalty from other realms who are more thinkers than fighters and I'm okay with that."

"Of course, you are. Put your hands down. That _is_ distracting." Thor said, looking away from her until she stopped groping her own chest.

"HYDRA engineered perfection. What can I say?"

"So, Loki gets a pass because he was with you when the Grandmaster found him?"

"Pretty much." She moved to rest her head on his shoulder. "I could sleep down here tonight. That way you don't have to be alone."

"I'm not alone. I've got Miek."

"You'd rather sleep next to a bug with knives for hands than me? You afraid your brother will get jealous?"

"I don't care how Loki feels." Thor admitted. "Unlike me, you could sleep in a bed, and you should."

"Aww. You love me." She teased. She pressed her lips to his cheek and stood. "Good luck tomorrow, brother. Not that you'll need it."

************

Cassie stood by the window in the skybox, watching as the smaller battles happened. It was a lot of blood and carnage. She had to say, she liked it. She had a nervous pit in her stomach and Topaz looming behind her didn't help much. Loki walked in as the Grandmaster introduced the main event and wrapped his arm around her, putting his hand on her hip, but she moved it off. "You bet against our brother. You don't touch me." She whispered. 

"Your adoptive brother-in-law will be fine." Loki whispered back. 

"Then, you should have bet how I did."

"Does the Grandmaster seem the type to play fair?" Loki shot a look behind him to Topaz and her melt stick. "I bet against Thor because the Grandmaster isn't going to let him win."

Cassie swallowed. "Doesn't matter. Thor will win. He beat _you_... at every opportunity." 

"I'm not an alien behemoth of unknown origin. And Thor never had an Obedience Disk in his neck before." 

"He wouldn't." She whispered, her eyes widening. 

"I would." 

She sneered as she turned away from him. "Don't point out similarities between you and this lunatic. It's not going to endear you to me."

"You're just mad you wasted your money." 

"I don't- shut up, Loki." 

"Because if it isn't about the units... this attitude must be about Rogers."

"I said, 'shut up'." She growled.

"You found the Quinjet and you think you are going home, so now you're-"

"If you continue talking, I'm going to stab you."

Loki sighed and moved away from her. "I suppose it was naive to believe I might have made some permanent headway with you."

"Küss meinen Arsch, Miststück." She muttered under her breath, before turning her attention to the stadium below and the giant hologram of the Grandmaster.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you... Lord of Thunder." Grandmaster's voice boomed over the speakers. 

Cassie rolled her eyes as the audience booed at Thor. "His hair." She whispered, to herself, as he stepped into the arena. 

"Watch out for his fingers, they make sparks. Okay, this is it. Let's get ready to welcome this guy." The walls of the arena started to raise as the Champion readied to come out. Puffs of green shot out across the audience. As the boss spoke, Thor put his helmet on his head and locked it into place. "He is a creature, what can we say about him? Well, he's unique. There's none like him. I feel a special connection with him. He's undefeated. He's the reigning, he's the defending. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you... Your... Incredibllllllle..." 

The Champion's gate burst open and Cassie flinched as a familiar green monster jumped through and roared at the crowd. She let out a surprised scoff as Thor shouted 'YES!' and the crowd went silent. "I have to get off this planet." Loki's terrified tone made her turn her head as he started for the door, but the Grandmaster entered and stopped him. 

"Hey, hey, hey. Where are you going?" Grandmaster pushed Loki toward the couch.

"HULK!" The behemoth roared, raising his arms and weapons up. 

Thor waved at the skybox. "Hey. Hey. We know each other! He's a friend from work!" Grandmaster looked over at Loki and Cassie, one of whom looked ecstatic and the other who looked like he was about to cry. "Where have you been? Everyone thought you were dead. So much has happened since I last saw you. I lost my hammer, like yesterday so that's still pretty fresh. Loki, Loki's here, can you believe it? He's up there! Loki, look who it is! Oh, Banner, I-I never thought I would say this but I-" 

Cassie's smile disintegrated. "Don't call him that." 

"I am so happy to see you. Banner. Hey, Banner."

"Don't call him that!" Cassie said, slapping her hand against the window as Hulk growled.

"No Banner, only Hulk." Hulk growled before rushing toward the Thunder God. 

"Banner, it's me." Thor didn't understand the problem. 

But Cassie did. As they fought, Cassie's mouth hung open. She'd heard they'd fought when they first met, that Thor was really the only one who could have survived that throw-down on the helicarrier, but witnessing it was a different thing. Hulk beat into Thor, punching him into walls as Thor shouted about them being friends. When Thor hit back and got Hulk down, he attempted to calm him with Natasha's lullaby, but it didn't work. Hulk grabbed Thor's feet and smashed him from one side to the other to another before throwing him across the arena. 

Loki jumped to his feet in vindication. "YES! THAT'S HOW IT FEELS!" He smiled at the host. "I'm just a huge fan of the sport."

"I know you're in there, Banner. I'll get you out!" Thor promised as he smashed a hammer into Hulk's body. 

"That's not how it works. You're just making him madder. Thor..." Cassie flinched as Hulk jumped up and ran at the Asgardian. She stopped trying to listen to Thor's words. He was just making things worse. She bit her thumb as she watched the fight, which seemed pretty much over by the time Hulk started punching Thor in the face over and over past the point that his helmet came off, but then a bolt of lightning shot Hulk across the stadium. "Holy shit! He's never... without Mjolnir..." She looked to Loki, who shrugged and leaned forward to see better. 

The Grandmaster stood, a worried look on his face as Thor stalked toward Hulk, his eyes and limbs set with electricity. The audience began to chant 'Thunder' as he blew back Hulk with a mighty punch. They started stalking toward each other again and Thor looked ready to shock Hulk into submission until Grandmaster hit a button on his remote and Thor's Obedience Disk activated. Cassie's jaw clenched as she watched Thor fall to the ground and Hulk took a giant leap into the air. It was over. Hulk was going to smash. "If he dies, I blame you!" She growled at Loki before stalking out. 

Loki followed her out. "He'll be _fine_. It's Thor."

"It's _Hulk_. How did he even get here?! I don't- and you! Sucking up to that cheating, ego-tripping..." 

"I told you he wouldn't play fair! And of course I'm trying to endear myself to-"

"Well, why don't you go endear yourself by sucking his grand dick? I'm gonna check on our brother." She pushed him away from her and stomped toward the elevator. Loki just shook his head as he watched her walk away.

"He'll be fine." Scrapper 142 said as Cassie walked off the elevator, before taking a drink from her flask. "I get hit by Hulk in training all the time."

"Getting hit by Hulk in a training situation is a lot different than being smashed by him when he's legitimately furious! And how would you know what an Asgardian body can handle?" 142 rolled her eyes and started to walk away. "I knew you looked familiar!" 142 stopped and turned. "There's a painting in the Royal Library on Asgard to commemorate the Valkyrie and their service to Asgard. What a laugh. If Hela hasn't already burned it to the ground by the time I get back to Asgard, I'll do it myself."

"Why were you on Asgard? You're not _of_ Asgard. If I had to guess, you're Terran." 142 stepped forward. "Sorry. Been on Sakaar too long. You're of Midgard."

"Asgardian by marriage. My Jotun husband... doesn't really look Jotun, does he?"

"Why would he-"

"Somehow, he knew there were other Asgardians here and since we're here because his sister attacked us on the Bifrost, he thought it deception was the better choice. I disagreed, initially, but it kept us from being sold off like Thor." She poked 142 roughly in her shoulder. "Even if you hate the royalty, Thor is a good man! He's my brother and you _sold_ him... for beer money."

142 sighed and brought her fist to contact Cassie's face. "Shut up."

"Do it again." Cassie straightened. "It tickles."

"I thought you said you were Midgardian."

"And _I_  thought Valkyrie were strong."

"You're one of the Kree experiments, aren't you?"

"No. I'm not an Inhuman. I'm a 100% homegrown human with 100% Midgardian additives. Now, if you'll excuse me." She entered the room and shooed away the handmaidens washing him.

"Little Smash! You here, too?" Hulk's booming voice greeted her with the name he'd picked while they were fighting Ultron. He thought her uncontrollable rage against the robot was funny when paired with her tiny fists.

"Yes. I'm here, too. And I'm mad at you." 

"Why mad? 'Cause him? He fine." Hulk indicated at Thor as he stripped and got into his tub.

"Sure, but did you know that when you jumped several hundred meters in the air and came crashing down on him? No. You were just angry because he called you the puny guy's name and then he beat you up so you smashed him. Don't lie."

"No lie." He grunted.

Cassie sighed, looking from Thor to Hulk. "How long have you been here?"

"Long time. Since robots."

"Well... how... how long have you been... you?"

"Always."

"No, I mean... usually, you turn back into Bruce after you calm down."

"No calm! No Bruce!"

"Okay. Okay. I'm just confused because I got... I got a postcard from Bruce about 6 months after the robots."

"Not after. Before."

"No. I promise it was after."

"Not after!"

"Okay!" She shouted back. "Stop yelling at me, Thor needs his rest!"

Hulk laughed. "Little Smash mad."

"Little Smash is _tired_ , but... really happy to see you, Hulk. You know, I've spent the last month living several floors below you, thinking Loki was the last familiar face I was ever gonna see." She smiled. "But now you're here and Thor's here and... Maybe we can go home."

"Hulk home."

"This is not home, Hulk. This is... This place is a dump." Hulk grunted and gestured around the room, sending large drops of hot water at her face. She wiped them off and continued. "Okay, the Grandmaster's place is less trash but look at the rest of this planet. It's bullshit and you know it. This planet sucks."

"Here like Hulk. Here love Hulk."

"What, so you have a bunch of fans here, so you're gonna stay? That's fuckin' selfish! What about Banner? Everything he's ever known is on Earth!" Hulk's face contorted and she put her hand up. "Don't even start roaring at me, Big Guy, 'cause I'm right. I'm not stupid, I know you hate puny Banner, but is that any reason to keep him stuffed down inside of you while you have the time of your big green life billions of miles from home?"

Hulk just grunted and sunk back into the water deeper.


	4. Stay

Cassie knelt next to Thor and started cleaning the dirt and blood off of him. He groaned and his eyes popped open. "Hey." She whispered as he sat up, gasping. 

Thor stood and looked around the room. "Where are we?"

"Champions' quarters." She answered, leaning down to grab his armor and hand it to him. "Get dressed. That  _is_  distracting."

Thor chuckled as he put the armor on over his head. Hulk moved in the tub and Thor turned to him, putting his hands up. "Are we cool?" Hulk grunted softly and nodded. Thor turned away and nodded. "It's Hulk in a hot tub. So, how long have you been like that?"

"Like what?" Hulk grunted. 

"Like this. Big, and green, and stupid."

"Hulk always Hulk." 

"Says he's been here since right after Sokovia." Cassie answered, leaning against a shelf.

"How did you get here?" Thor asked.

"Winning." 

"You mean cheating, huh? Were they wearing one of these when you won?" Thor indicated his Obedience Disk before moving on. "How'd you arrive here?"

Hulk pantomimed a crashing jet. "Quinjet."

Thor's face lit up. "Yes. Now, where is the Quinjet now?" Hulk moved to exit the tub and Cassie and Thor both averted their eyes. "That's- uh, naked. He's very naked. It's in my brain, now."

"It's really no wonder Natasha was interested." Cassie joked. 

"Quinjet." Hulk said, pointing out the window of the tower.

"It's functional. I've been on it." Cassie said, as Hulk tied a blanket around his waist. 

"Yes! I'm getting us out of here. This is a terrible, awful place." Thor said, as Hulk sat on his bed, which seemed to be made of the jaw of a very large animal. Thor turned to Hulk as he pulled gloves on. "You're gonna love Asgard. It's big. It's golden. Shiny."

"Hulk stay." He took a bite of a large piece of fruit.

"No, no, no. My people need me to get back to Asgard. We must prevent Ragnarok."

"Ranaro?" Hulk grunted.

"The prophesied death of my home world. The end of days, it's the end of every-" Hulk cut him off with a very loud yawn. "If you two help  _me_  get back to Asgard, I can help  _you_  get back to Earth."

"Earth hate Hulk."

"He doesn't want to leave his fans." Cassie complained.

"Earth  _loves_ Hulk. They love you. You're one of the Avengers. One of the team. One of our friends! This is what friends do, they support each other."

"You're Banner's friend!" Hulk accused.

"I'm not Banner's friend, I prefer you!"

"Banner's friend!"

"I don't even like Banner. 'I'm into numbers and science and stuff.'" Thor mocked. 

"Thor and Little Smash go, Hulk stay."

"Fine. Stay here. Stupid place. It's hideous, by the way." Thor said, backing away. "The red. The white. Just pick a color. Ridiculous."

"Smash you." Hulk called.

"You didn't smash anything. I won that fight."

"I smashed you." Cassie chuckled at the back-and-forth of their rhetoric. 

"Yeah. Sure, sure." 

"Baby arms!"

"What?"

"Baby!" Hulk threw his half-eaten gourd at Thor.

"Moron! You big child!"

"Thor go!"

"I am going!" Thor called over his shoulder. As he tried to walk through the doorway, he walked into a force field and an alarm went off and Cassie cringed as his Obedience Disk went off and he fell to the floor. 

Hulk laughed, loudly. "Thor go again!" Cassie dropped to Thor's side. "Thor home."

"Hey. You okay?"

"I  _really_  hate this thing." Thor groaned, scratching at the disk. Cassie stood, offering Thor her hand, which he used to stand up. "You've been on the Quinjet?" He turned his focus away from Hulk, away from Cassie, to look out the window, longingly.

"Yeah. I found it, uh, actually the day that you showed up here. I've only been on there once. Got distracted."

"It works?"

Cassie looked over to Hulk. "Yeah. I thought it was the one we lost because the autopilot was wonky, but I guess, if it's the one from Sokovia, there's nothing wrong with it." Thor didn't look at her. "You're worried about Asgard."

"This is all Loki's fault."

She sighed. "I'm sorry. It's not Loki's fault. It's mine. I should have made sure that-"

Thor turned back to her. "I should not have left Asgard for so long. It was my duty to ensure-"

"We both suck and so does Loki... and Odin should have gone back when he woke up. I'll never understand why he went to Norway, instead of going home."

"He said that Norway  _was_  home, that it could be a home for our people."

As Hulk walked out of the apartment to go train with Valkyrie, Cassie sat on the window ledge. "I miss Earth. I miss Asgard." She looked up at Thor. "I hate Sakaar. I hate the Grandmaster. I hate the sycophant Loki's pretending to be." 

"I hate that you're acting as though there's  _any_ version of Loki you joy in." Cassie's cheeks flushed. "After everything he's done to you, to me, to Asgard and Midgard both."

"He thinks he's in love with me." Cassie said, quietly. "Maybe, part of me wants that to mean something so that it's not so-"

"Do  _you_  love  _him_?" Thor's eyes bored into her.

"Every time I think I'm in love, I fuck it up, but... Loki always wants me and... some part of me always wants him." She swallowed and bit her tongue to distract the tears welling up in her eyes. "Why do you think that is?"

Thor looked down at her, thoughtfully. "I think, this time, you sabotaged your relationship intentionally. And perhaps you did with Clint, as well."

"What?"

"You kissed Barnes and Rogers while you were betrothed to Barton. You said you knew it was stupid when you did it, used it as an excuse to call off your engagement. When your relationship with Steve started to become serious, when you knew that he loved you, you ran away to Asgard. You didn't have to let Loki touch you, though you did. Because Loki is not one you have to worry about feeling something real for."

"Holy shit." She gasped out, eyes casting to her feet. "Phil fucked me up." She wiped her eyes and stood. "I'm so terrified of being hurt that I'm Taylor Swift-ing my way through my relationships."

"Taylor Swift?"

"Leaving before I get left!" She exclaimed. "I even did that with Coulson! I've done it with everyone! I left Phil once he fell in love with Audrey so that I could control the ending, myself. I knew that Clint was gonna hate me once he figured out who I really am, so I kissed two other men and then... I just... I just let myself do whatever... Really have lost my damn mind." There was no amusement in her voice.

"You can remedy your lapse after we stop Hela and get you back to Earth."

"You don't get it. You don't think Steve would actually forgive this, do you? And that must be why I did it, because why should I allow myself to be happy?! I've never been-" 

"Lady Cassie, please, there are more important things happening than your petty, self-destructive love life!" Thor snapped. Cassie blinked at him, before sitting back down on the windowsill. Thor took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "Heimdall, I know you can see me. I need you to help me. Help me see." Thor's eyes snapped open and Cassie saw his eyes had gone gold... and he was spaced out. For a good five minutes, Cassie watched his blank and unblinking gold eyes, waiting for him to come back to himself. He took a gasping breath and stepped back as his eyes shifted back to blue. 

Cassie jumped off of the windowsill and rushed forward. "What did you see?"

"I saw Asgard." He looked distraught. "My people are in hiding. Heimdall is providing them refuge, but Hela is winning. Hela draws her power from Asgard and she's getting stronger by the day. They need me." Thor took a deep breath. "They need  _us_."

Cassie nodded. "Okay. Yeah. You're right. Your people need us. So, we get that Obedience Disk out of your neck, reinforce the Quinjet and then get the fuck off of Sakaar. But I don't know how to get from Sakaar to Asgard and I know the Quinjet isn't going to have it on the nav."

"Heimdall said to take the big portal. That's fine, now we need to figure out how to get this damn disk off of me!" 

Cassie sighed. "The only way to get the disk off of you are the remotes. I think that Valkyrie bitch has one and the Grandmaster has another." 

Thor scratched at the disk. "Are... are you... able to get close to the Grandmaster, perhaps, try to get his-"

"I'll give it a shot." She said, softly. She patted his shoulder and walked out of the apartment. She could get close to the Grandmaster, but she wasn't sure she could get the remote. 

~~

"Where do you think you're going?" Loki's voice stopped her as Cassie stepped off of the elevator onto the Grandmaster's level. 

She sighed and turned to him. "I'm going to meet with the Grandmaster."

"What for?"

"For our brother. I'm going to try to get that stupid remote away from him and-"

"Help him escape so that you can go back to Earth and-"

"Oh, shut up, Loki! This isn't about Earth, it's about Asgard! Hela is killing our people, Loki! Heimdall is keeping them as secure as possible but he can't keep them alive forever." 

Loki's face shifted from frustrated to fearful. "I thought you didn't want to go against Hela again."

"What I  _want_  isn't important, anymore, Loki. We've had enough time off. We- I mean,  _I_  need to go help people again. I am tired of sitting back, pretending that I'm not a badass bitch of outstanding origin! I'm tired of pretending that I'm not a hero. I wasn't made for sitting on my ass on some trash planet! I was made-"

"You don't know that you were made for-" 

"Loki, you can't, seriously, be trying-"

"To keep you from throwing your life away?!" He grabbed her shoulders and pushed her into the wall next to the elevator. "Hela will kill you. She'll kill you and Thor and Asgard and she will not even break a sweat. You cannot go back there." 

"You cannot stop me!" She pushed against him, but he wouldn't move.

"I can't. I know." He said, softly. "But you can't just rush into this, Cassandra. You can't just run into battle with the Goddess of Death without thinking it-" 

"Loki, I'm not stupid! Nor am I reckless." She looked up at him, eyes softening as she saw terror in his eyes. "You don't have to come with me, Loki. You might be happier to stay on Sakaar, acting as if Asgard meant nothing to you, but... it became a home to me and I refuse to let it fall without a fight."

"You were there less than a month! You're going to kill yourself for a planet you called 'home' for less than a moon?"

"No, I'm going to  _fight_... for my brother's people. For my husband's people."

"And now I'm your husband again. Last we spoke, you threatened to stab me, but now you want to bat your eyes at me and pretend-"

"I'm not batting-"

Loki pressed her back against the wall harder. "I do not want to lose you, Cassie. Of all the things I have desired to have,  _you_  are the one I want most to keep."

"You can't force me to stay here, you know?"

"I know." He whispered. He lifted his hand to push her hair out of the way of her eyes. "Just give me one more night with you. One more night with you beside me in  _our_  bed, one last time."

Cassie hesitated, opening her mouth to argue that time was short and she needed to get the remote, but Loki's eyes begged her. "What's one more night to your conscience? What's it to Thor down in the Champions' suite? What's one more night to Hela and her rampage?"

She looked into his eyes and swallowed. "Fine, but then I get to do whatever is necessary without being made to feel guilty about it."

She simultaneously loved and hated the look of love and impending loss in his eyes. She was hoping that look didn't mean he was planning something to keep her by his side, but she learned long ago to prepare for the worst when dealing with Loki; even when he seems to be on your side, he's not.

So, even as she let him lead her into the elevator and down to their apartment, she was waiting for the shoe to drop. As he ripped her dress off of her and threw her onto their bed, she kept her wits about her; but as he started using every trick he knew to distract her, she let her mind wander, lost in the feel of his fingertips grasping hungrily at her skin, his teeth leaving a trail of bite marks down her shoulder and the sound of his satisfied grunts that followed her needy moans.

By the time she had her legs wrapped around him, heels digging into the small of his back, Cassie had almost forgotten about Hela, Thor, Asgard and Earth. She wasn't thinking about escaping Sakaar or liberating her brother from slavery. All she could think about was Loki. All she cared about was the orgasm he kept taking her to the brink of and then yanking away from her. She felt like she was crumbling and if she didn't get to cum soon, she would break like plaster.

"Loki." She begged, with only a single word.

"Yes, my queen?" His voice was strained; it was wearing on him to keep up this game, too.

"If you don't make me cum soon, I'll do it myself."

Loki pulled her hands from their station around his neck and held her wrists together above her head, holding them in his right hand. "You are not to touch yourself, woman." He snarled into her ear. She wanted to snarl back against him calling her 'woman', but the head of his cock hitting her cervix distracted her from it. He made sure to hit the same spot with every thrust of his hips until her eyes were clenched tightly. "That's right, my love. Close your eyes." She was almost there, almost to that precipice she was chasing, when he moved his left hand off of her hip and something told her to open her eyes.

She wrenched her wrists out of his hand and knocked him backward, scrambling off of the bed and looking across the mattress at him with disgust painting her face. An Obedience Disk was lying in the middle of their sheets. "You bastard!"

"Cassie, please, don't-" He shook his head at her, his face showing his shame. 

"You can't possibly think you-"

"I'm trying to save your life!" He urged, grabbing the disk off of the sheet and walking around the bed to stand in front of her. 

"You're trying to control me! Again! You can't think that this-"

"I just want you to be safe!"

"You want me to stay! You don't care about my safety, you just don't want to lose me, again."

"You're going to die on Asgard for a bunch of people who do not care about you or-"

"And you do?! Loki, you're-"

"I love you! I can't let you-" Loki moved to grab her hands, but Cassie backed away, knocking the Obedience Disk out of his hand.

" _You can't_ _stop me_!" She shrieked.

"You're being unreasonable!" Loki shouted, as he deftly grabbed the disk out of the air.

"Are you stupid?" Cassie stomped over to a neatly-folded pile of clothes and yanked a dress from the top of the stack. She yanked the dress over her head with a glare that told Loki he would likely never see her naked again. 

Loki took a deep breath and sat on the edge of the bed, tossing the disk behind him where it landed in the bath. He was trying to look ashamed. "It was a bad idea. I understand that. But it was an idea borne of desperation, Cassie." He looked up at her, his blue eyes begging her. "I am distraught at the idea of losing you. I might have hated it, but I could handle your going back to Earth. I could understand you going back to the soldier, but not you dying on Asgard in a fight with my sister!"

"Oh, spare me." She spat, grabbing a pair of boots from the floor and stomping toward the door.

" _Cassandra_!" Loki jumped up and grabbed her, but she reared her right fist back and drove it forward into the side of his face. Loki didn't release her, holding her against his chest, tightly. "You cannot leave me to go die-" She struggled against his nude form before lifting her leg in an attempt to knee him in his unclothed junk. He growled and tossed her to the floor, face-down. He quickly secured her hands behind her back and put his weight on her, knee digging into the small of her back. "You will  _listen_  to me... please, my queen."

She turned her head, breathing forcefully to get her hair out of her face. "You have about three seconds before I beat you to death,  _my king_." She growled.

"Cassie, I love you and I can't allow you to run off and get yourself killed to help Thor."

"This isn't about Thor, you dumbass!" She snapped. 

"No, it's about you!" He pressed her hands up higher until she groaned from the pain in her joints. "I've spent a thousand years looking for a woman like you. I couldn't believe it when I found you, on Midgard no less. I couldn't even consider loving you for years after I found you and now you expect me to let you leave, let you kill yourself for Asgard?"

"I swear to God, Laufeyson, I will kill you if you do not let me up."

"No. You have to understand why I'm doing this."

"I understand it just fine, you dick! You think you get a say in when and how I die, but you don't!" She twisted underneath him but only managed to hurt her back in addition to her arms. "This isn't how you treat a woman you love!" She grunted.

"I lose you either way, but at least I'll ensure your safety if I keep you on Sakaar."

"No, you won't! If you keep me on Sakaar, I'll never stop trying to get away. You detain me here, make me a slave like those gladiators and the Grandmaster's go-go dancers and I will resent you for the rest of my life. Up to and including after I kill you and take back my damn life! Get off of me and maybe, just  _maybe_ , I won't destroy you for even trying this bullshit!" 

There was a long silence while Cassie waited for some sort of response and Loki seemed to think through all of his options. Finally, her arms were released and his knee removed from her back. She twisted and jumped up as he backed away with his hands up in a nonthreatening manner. "You're going to die if you go back to Asgard. Everything I have will be gone if you leave."

"If I'm your everything, Loki, then you really  _do_  have nothing." She said, softly, before grabbing her discarded boots and running out of their apartment. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was late by the time Cassie made it back up to the Grandmaster's penthouse, but the party was still going on. Well, it had devolved down to an orgy between him and his harem, but some other guests were still around, so she sat at the bar and waited for the man to wear himself out... which he still hadn't done when the sun came up and still hadn't done when the alarms went off across the building. Cassie rushed out of the tower as soon as she heard 'the Lord of Thunder has escaped and absconded with my beloved champion!'. She knew they must be heading for the Quinjet. Unfortunately, by the time she made it to the jet, it was destroyed. 

She looked around the jet, a sudden and deep depression falling over her. "What the  _hell_  happened?!" She shrieked, almost missing the fact that Thor was leaning over Bruce Banner who looked disoriented and was almost drowning in Hulk's clothing.

"Cassie? Wh-wha-?" Bruce blinked up at her.

"What happened to the jet?!" She demanded.

"Hulk didn't want me to leave." Thor said, putting a hand on her shoulder, soothingly. 

"Great! Now, none of us can leave!" 

"Are you well, Lady Cassie?"

Cassie took a deep breath. "Yeah. I just think that if I stay on Sakaar much longer, I'm gonna kill your brother, so..."

"I thought Loki was trying?" Thor said.

"Well, last night he was  _trying_  to put an Obedience Disk on me so that I can't leave Sakaar so..."

"Well, that seems like a very poor plan." Thor smiled, slightly.

"Yeah." Cassie confirmed. 

"So, what the hell happened?" Bruce asked, standing up, holding up Hulk's clothes around his waist as he stumbled to the console.

"Banner, there's something you should know." Thor started as he and Cassie followed Bruce to the front of jet.

Banner put his hand on the scanner and the system asked for voice activation. "Banner."

" _Welcome, Strongest Avenger._ "

"Uh, what?" Thor exclaimed.

"Ship's log." A video played of Hulk being sucked out of the back of the jet and Bruce turned to Thor. "Thor, where are we?"

"Yeah, about that."

"Sakaar, hear ye. Attention, please. I have some bad news. My beloved exalted champion has turned up missing." The giant hologram of the Grandmaster was speaking to the whole of the planet. "Take to the streets. Celebrate my champion."

"Who's that?"

"The Grandmaster." Cassie said.

"He kinda runs this place. You actually lived at his house for a while."

"I  _did_?"

"Yeah. Quite a lot's happened. You and I had a fight recently."

"Did I win?"

"No, I won. Easily." 

"Doesn't sound right."

"Well, it's true." 

Cassie started to argue about winning versus cheating to win versus losing to someone cheating, but she shook her head as the Grandmaster continued speaking to the masses. "It seems that that criminally seductive Lord of Thunder has stolen him away."

"Seductive  _God_  of Thunder. We need to move."

"Oh, no. This is bad." Bruce turned, rubbing at his head. "This is really, really bad. Guys, I think I'm freaking out." 

Cassie walked up and put a hand on his back. "Don't freak out."

"No, no, no, don't freak out. You're okay. Put these on." Thor said, handing Bruce a bundle of clothes. 

"These are Tony's clothes." Bruce said, examining them and dropping Hulk's clothes. Cassie averted her eyes but didn't stop herself from a quick look at the scientist's pale backside, just for curiosity's sake. 

"I know, come on."

"Is he here?"

"No, he's not here, but listen, just stay calm. We don't want that tight, white ass to turn green." Cassie said, chuckling.

"The sun's going down. The sun is getting real low." Thor soothed, rubbing at Bruce's shoulders.

"Please stop saying that." Cassie urged as Bruce turned a bit pink and moved to put Tony's pants on. 

"W-where are we?" Bruce asked as he buttoned the pants. 

"A planet called Sakaar." Cassie answered. "I can't tell you where in the known universe that is, or if it even  _is_  in our known universe."

"Maybe, don't get into the specifics 'til we know he's calm, Cassie." Thor chided.

"Yeah, 'cause he's gonna be calm." Cassie responded as Bruce pulled Tony's shirt on. "That, actually, doesn't look bad on you, man."

"Thanks." Bruce breathed out as Thor started to walk him out of the Quinjet. They maneuvered through the streets, Thor repeating his version of Natasha's lullaby the whole way until they took a seat in a doorway. Bruce ran his hands down his face, almost shaking as he turned to Thor. "Oh, shoot. Would you stop saying that?"

"I just need you to stay calm." Thor answered.

"Calm? I'm on an alien planet!"

"It's just a planet. You've been on a planet before." 

"Yeah. One!"

"Well, now you've been on two. That's a good thing." Thor started.

"It's a new experience. I know. I get it. It's overwhelming, but you still need to stay calm." Cassie patted his knee as he ran his hands through his hair.

"My neurons, they're firing faster than my brain can handle the information."

"Well, now you know what it's like to have ADD and Anxiety." Cassie joked.

"The whole thing is totally different this time. I mean, in the past, I always felt like Hulk and I each had a hand on the wheel, but this time it's like he had the keys to the car and I was locked in the trunk."

"All right, well you're back now. That's all that matters." Thor said.

"No, it's not what matters. What I'm trying to tell you is-"

"If you turn into the Hulk again, you might not be able to come back." Cassie said, rubbing at her temples. 

"Exactly! Banner may  _never_  come back again, and we are stranded on an planet that is designed to stress me out." 

"We're not stranded. Cassie and I are gonna figure out a way to get us home." Thor said.

"Thank you." Bruce sighed.

"Not  _your_  home, though. Asgard. My home."

"What?"

"Listen, my people are in great danger. You, Cassie and I, we have to fight this really powerful being-"

"Who also happens to be his sister."

"Okay, that is so wrong on so many... I don't wanna fight your sister. That's a family issue."

"No, she's an evil being." Thor said.

"I don't care what she is. I'm not fighting any more beings. I'm sick of it."

"What?"

"I just told you, if I turn into the Hulk I am never gonna come back again. And you don't care." Bruce complained.

"We care." Cassie confirmed, looking around the street. "It's just-"

"We're putting together the team. The Hulk is the fire."

"Wait, you're just using me to get to the Hulk. That's gross." Bruce said, sadly.

"What? No!"

"You don't care about me. You're not my friend."

"No! I don't even like the Hulk. He's all like 'smash, smash, smash'. I prefer you." Thor tried. 

"Thanks."

"But if we're being honest, when it comes to fighting evil beings..." Cassie shrugged slightly. "The Hulk is very powerful and useful."

"Yeah? Banner's powerful and useful, too." Bruce said.

"Is he, though?" Thor argued.

"How many PHDs does Hulk have? Zero. How many PHDs does Banner have? Seven." 

"Wow. Impressive." Cassie said as Thor grumbled.

"Fine. You don't have to fight anyone. But we're in danger here, so we have to move." Thor stood and started to go through a pile of cloth next to him. 

"What are you doing with that?" Bruce asked. 

"I need a disguise, I'm a fugitive." Thor answered, wrapping a blanket around his head and shoulders.

"I need a disguise." Bruce said.

"You  _are_  the disguise." Thor said.

"No one knows you except us, Bruce." 

"I'll be Tony Stark." Bruce pulled out a pair of Tony's tinted glasses and placed them on his face.

"No one knows who that is, either." Cassie provided.

"You're not Tony. You're Bruce. Bruce Banner." 

"Then why did you dress me up like Tony?" Bruce asked.

"Because you were naked."

"Okay, I'll give you that." Bruce conceded.

"What are you doing?" Thor asked, gesturing to Bruce pulling down at the inseam of the pants. "Stop doing that."

"Tony wears his pants super tight." Bruce complained. 

"Yeah, well, you're yanking on a thousand dollar pair of jeans, so... stop it." Cassie nodded at him with a wince.

"I'm sorry." Bruce groaned.

"Why are you being so weird?" Thor asked.

"I don't know. Maybe the fact that I was trapped for two years inside of a monster made me a little  _weird_." Bruce's neck started to show green veins and his voice went deep, so Cassie and Thor were quick to calm him. 

"Listen, we're gonna go to Asgard..." Thor pushed Bruce toward the street. "...and you're not going to have to think about the Hulk ever again."

The parade of Hulk fans had something else to say about that, turning Bruce green with a puff of green powder. They lost Bruce in the crowd, finding him about to be smashed by a very large alien. Thor took point, about to fight the creature when an Obedience Disk hit its neck, taking it to the ground. The Valkyrie was standing behind it. She told them to follow her and they did, heading to a scrapper building a couple miles away. She said she felt like she knew Bruce and Bruce said that it felt like he knew her, too. When they got to the scrapper building, she turned to Thor. "Look, I've spent years in a haze, trying to forget my past. Sakaar seemed like the best place to drink and forget and to die one day."

"I was thinking you drink too much, and that probably was gonna kill you." Thor responded.

"I don't plan to stop drinking. But I don't wanna forget. I can't turn away anymore... so if I'm gonna die, well, it may as well be driving my sword through the heart of that murderous hag."

"Good." Thor said.

"Took you long enough." Cassie said.

"So, I'm saying that I wanna be on the team. Has it got a name?" 

Thor looked at the other Avengers. "Yeah, it's called the 'Revengers'."

"Revengers?"

"Nope." Cassie shook her head.

"Because I'm getting revenge. You're getting revenge. Cassie wants revenge. Do you want revenge?" Thor asked Bruce.

"Uh, I-I'm undecided."

"Also, I've got a peace offering." Valkyrie said, turning to the door closest to her and opening it.

Loki was chained up inside the room. "Surprise." He said, almost singing it.

"Be a better surprise if your mouth was restrained, too." Cassie said, walking into the apartment as Thor picked up a bottle and threw it at Loki. It bounced off of his face and clattered to the floor. 

"Ow." Loki said, pointedly. 

"Just had to be sure." Thor said.

"I was talking to my wife." 

"Oh, I am  _so_  tired of you calling me that. I thought I made it clear-"

"You always act like you don't want me, but you always come back to-"

"Not anymore." She growled.

Loki sighed and shifted his attention to Banner. "Hello, Bruce."

"So, last time I saw you, you were trying to kill everybody. Where are you at these days?" Bruce asked.

"It varies from moment to moment."

"Oh, shut it." Cassie rolled her eyes. 

"Is that a Dragonfang?" Thor asked, picking up a sword wrapped in blue cloth. 

"It is." 

"My god. This is the famed sword of the Valkyrie." Thor gushed, admiring it.

"Sakaar and Asgard are about as far apart as any two known systems. Our best bet is a wormhole just outside of city limits. Refuel on Xandar, and we can be back on Asgard in 18 months." Valkyrie said. 

"Nope. We are going through the big one." Thor said, gesturing at the big portal with the Dragonfang.

"The Devil's Anus?"

"Anus?" Bruce asked, his mouth full of food. "Wait, wait, wait. Whose anus?"

"For the record, I didn't know it was called that when I picked it." 

"That looks like..." Bruce started, pointing at the wormhole.

"A collapsing neutron star inside of an Einstein-Rosen bridge." Cassie finished with him. "That's exactly what it is."

"We need another ship. That would tear mine to pieces."

"She's right. We need one that can withstand the geodetic strain from the singularity." Thor said.

"And has an offline power steering system that could also function without the on-board computer." Bruce added.

"And we need one with cup holders, because we're gonna die so, drinks!" Valkyrie raised her bottle and stepped away. 

"Do I know you? I feel like I know you." Bruce said.

"I feel like I know you, too. It's weird." 

"What do you say?" Thor said to Bruce. "Uncharted metagalactic travel through a volatile cosmic gateway. Talk about an adventure." 

"We need a ship." Cassie, Bruce and Thor all said. 

"There are one or two ships. Absolute top of the line models..." Valkyrie started.

"I don't mean to impose..." Loki interrupted, prompting Valkyrie to throw her bottle at the wall next to Loki's head. "But the Grandmaster has a great many ships. I may even have stolen the access codes to his security system."

"Suddenly, you're overcome with an urge to do the right thing." Valkyrie said.

Cassie snorted, derisively. "That's a joke."

"Heavens, no. I've run out of favor with the Grandmaster and in exchange for codes and access to a ship-"

"He wants safe passage through the Anus." Cassie finished. 

"You're telling us that you can get us access into the garage without setting off any alarms?" Thor asked.

"Yes, brother, I can."

Bruce moved in front of Loki and whistled. "Okay, can I just... a quick FYI. I was just talkin' to him, just a couple minutes ago and he was totally ready to kill any of us... well, most any of us."

"He has done horrible things to me. Some worse than death." Cassie said.

"He did try to kill me." Valkyrie said.

"Yes, me too, on many, many occasions." Thor said. "There was one time when we were children he transformed himself into a snake, and he knows that I love snakes. So I went to pick up the snake to admire it and he transformed back into himself and he was like, 'Byeah, it's me!' and then he stabbed me. We were eight at the time."

Cassie looked over to see Loki smiling at the memory. She rolled her eyes. "If we're boosting a ship, we're gonna need to draw some guards away from the palace. We're badass but we're not 'take on an entire army just the the few of us' badass."

"Why not set the beast loose?" Loki suggested.

"Sh-shut up." Thor said, as Cassie growled out, "No one asked your opinion."

"You guys have a beast?" Valkyrie asked, excitedly.

The trio of Avengers went into a denial of "No, no, there's no beast" before Thor continued, "We're gonna start a revolution."

"Revolution?" Bruce asked.

"I'll explain later."

"Who's this guy again?" Valkyrie asked.

"I'll explain later."

"Korg?" Cassie asked, earning a giant smile. 

"Korg." Thor confirmed.

"You're really gonna release him?" Cassie pointed at Loki.

"I need him. Don't worry. I'll keep him controlled." Thor said, confidently. 

"Fine. Come on, Bruce. You and me, we're gonna hit the mainframe for the Obedience Disks. We're gonna free some slaves." Cassie said, grabbing Bruce by Tony's jacket and moving for the door. 

"Slaves?" Bruce questioned.

~~~~~


	5. Ragnarok

It wasn't that hard to get off Sakaar. Thor got the ship, leaving Loki incapacitated on the floor of the hangar, while Valkyrie and Bruce set the gladiators free, and Cassie rushed for her apartment to grab a recording device. She set it up and sat in front of it, sitting on the edge of the bed and looking at the recorder. 

"Look, I don't really know where to start with this. It's half Last Will and Testament, half confession and begging for forgiveness." She sighed. "I don't know if I'll make it home. I don't know if I'll make it off Asgard alive. I've spent the last month on a planet called Sakaar, thinking I'd die there. But then Thor showed up, and Hulk, and now we're about to be on our way back to Asgard and... maybe things'll end up okay. But... I don't deserve okay. I deserve to rot on this trash planet. I'm sorry, Steve."

She took a deep breath. "Remember when I told you that you didn't want me, that I was... that I wasn't... that you didn't want me because I wasn't Betty Crocker anymore. I wasn't lying. I'm not a good person. I was never... You remember right before I left, you told me not to let the Asgardian men steal me away? Well, Loki was on Asgard. I knew he was on Asgard, I used him to get myself there. He wanted me, so I let him have what he wanted. And I could blame it on wanting to make my time on Asgard go smoother, or I could say I didn't want him to send me home, but... I wanted him, too. I'm not saying that I don't want you, Steve, I  _do_ , and that's why I'm a shitty person. I had you waiting for me, the perfect man, and I wanted the villain, too. I'm a piece of shit and I know that and if I'm about to die, which I probably  _am_ , I don't want you to have any illusions about who I am. Don't idealize me when I die. I'm a terrible person and I didn't deserve you and I'm so, so sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so fucked up and I wish I could fix this, but all I can do is beg forgiveness. If ever I make it home, I'll understand if you never wanna talk to me again. But... I had to tell you. I had to tell you that myself.

Steve, I never deserved you. I wanted you, and I wanted to be what you deserved, but I never was. Maybe... maybe when I was a kid. I mean, maybe the blank slate, before Phil, before Loki, before Clint... but not  _this._ " She gestured at herself. "I am a shit person, and you deserve the world." She wiped her eyes and ended the recording, tucking it and her broken cell phone into her pocket and heading out of her apartment for the last time.

"Loki did as planned." Thor said once she made it into the Grandmaster's ship.

"Predictable." She rolled her eyes, taking a seat.

"I gave a rousing speech about growth, so maybe he'll change his mind. When we get to Asgard..." Thor started.

"You're on your own until I transfer my data to Earth. Bruce and our Valkyrie friend are gonna have to help the Asgardians to safety until I'm done."

"But-"

"No! That research is the whole reason I came to Asgard, the whole reason I got caught up in all this shit with Hela and Sakaar. If I don't send it, then my death is pointless." 

"We're not going to-"

"And transmitting to Earth might be my only opportunity to apologize and say 'goodbye' so Bruce, Valkyrie and Heimdall can keep the people safe for a while, while I get this done."

Thor nodded. He knew it was more about the 'goodbyes' than it was about the data.

They fought their way off of Sakaar, knowing that the fight on the other side of the Anus was bound to be harder. Asgard on fire greeted them when they awoke, which was not a vision Cassie ever wanted to see. "You'll have to move fast, Lady Cassie. We will need the Red Queen on the bridge."

"She's the who?" Valkyrie asked.

"Red Queen. It's the code name I gave her for our team back on Earth." Bruce said.

"And the team, it's-" Valkyrie started.

"Complicated. I'll meet you back here. Don't get dead." Cassie said, jumping out of the leisure vessel and running for the castle. Dodging undead Asgardian guardians was easy, but the whole process of getting to her room by the library was time-consuming. She locked her door behind her and set up the ICD. 'Connecting...' flashed repeatedly on the screen.

Tony's face suddenly appeared on the ICD, looking more annoyed than she'd ever seen. "Where the hell have you been?! I've been calling you for weeks!"

"Boss..."

"I built these communication devices for a reason, kid. 'Communicate' is right there in the name."

"Boss..."

"And 'every day' was not a suggestion, Campbell. I was clear on-"

"Shit's gone pear-shaped on Asgard, Tony, and I need you to shut the fuck up and listen to me." Fear overtook his expression. "Odin's dead and Thor's sister, Hela, who no one knew existed, has taken over Asgard. She killed the whole Asgardian army and plans to take the whole galaxy. We might not make it off of Asgard so I'm sending you everything I have. Send it all to Fury except the file labeled 'Steve'; send that one to Rogers."

"Cassie."

"And since I might not make it home, I gotta tell you-"

"No. You're coming home."

"Tony, let me say 'goodbye', you jerk!" Tony shook his head, but stopped speaking. Cassie took a deep breath. "You're the best thing that ever happened to me. You're one of the only people I trust implicitly. You've made my life better at every turn. You're a great mentor and you're gonna be an amazing father one day. Between me and Peter, you've had plenty of practice."

She smiled softly at him. "Oh, and send my data to Peter, too. I promised him he'd get to nerd out over my findings." A loud explosion in the vicinity of the throne room shook the castle. "Fuck! I think that's my cue to get to the bridge, boss."

"Cassie, wait! Why'd I pick you?" Tony asked. She looked at him, blankly. "Why'd I make you an Avenger? Why'd I give you that lab in Washington? You're smart." He answered. "You're fierce. You're the strongest person I've ever met. The  _only_  person who could make it through all the mind-fuckery you've gone through and make it out the other side sane. Hell, even Barnes had to go back to Wakanda to finish his deprogramming. If anyone can make it off Asgard..."

"It'd be you... but I'll do my best to pull a Stark, boss."

"Don't try, blondie. Just get home."

"There's a Yoda reference there, but I don't have time, Master Tony."

"Yeah, yeah. Come on back to Dagobah, young padawan."

Another explosion pulled her smile into a frown. "Gotta go, Tony. I love you." She said, seriously, before dropping the ICD on her bed, grabbing her backpack and running full-speed toward the Rainbow Bridge. As she approached, she could see the Asgardians piling onto a large ship and Hela's horde being fought back by what must've been Heimdall, Valkyrie, Korg and his rebel gladiators... and Loki.

"Surprised to see me?" He asked, with a giant grin.

"For the first time since you walked into my life-" She used her heavy book and notebook laden backpack to knock the head off of an undead soldier. "I can honestly say I'm pleasantly surprised at your presence."

"Why, thank you, my queen." Loki bashed his helmet into one of Hela's creatures.

"You're not a king." She reminded, throwing her backpack through the open door of the ship and pulling her daggers in one movement.

"Jotunheim counts for nothing, then?" He joked, continuing to fight.

"Oh, you are  _not_  trying to make me queen of Frostland." She replied, beginning a flowing 'dagger dance' through the zombies. "You can take that title and shove it."

"You've never been to Jotunheim. You might like it." Loki followed her, killing the soldiers she missed.

" _You_  don't like it and you're Jotun. I didn't even like Austria."

"Oh, come on! You loved Austria!" Loki grabbed her arm and pulled her back away from the slash of a zombie's sword. He gasped and his grip tightened. His eyes turned serious as he pointed at the ship with one of his daggers. "Go get on the ship, Cassandra."

She scoffed and tried to pull away. "Are you joking? I'm not gonna miss this fight."

"I'm not going to have my heir perish because you don't want to miss the bloodshed. Get on the ship." He demanded.

"What?!" She filled with rage, successfully pulling away from him. "You really think that I'm gonna fall for-"

"Ask Heimdall if you don't believe me!"

"A young prince!" The tall, dark-skinned Asgardian called from across the bridge. "You'll name him 'Anthony'!"

"Oh, most certainly not." Loki said, before focusing back on Cassie. "Go where you will be safe."

"No. First, I am so pissed off that you got me pregnant. I  _told_ _you_  that I didn't want-"

"We were on Sakaar! I thought we were going to be stuck there for the rest of our lives." Loki stabbed a zombie through the face and threw it backward into another one, knocking them off the bridge. "I didn't think it'd matter if I-"

" _Second_ , I will name my child after whomever I wish and third, I am not going to go wait on the ship with the women and children! I am a freakin' Avenger, you prick, and I'm not going to sit back while my husband, my brother, and my people fight for their lives! Whether I've got a... baby on board or not! Fuck off!"

"You froward bitch." He muttered as he followed her on her rampage across the bridge, renewed anger causing her attacks to be more ferocious.

She stopped in her tracks when a huge bolt of lightning lit up the entirety of the castle. A body flew off the throne room balcony and hit the courtyard below and Thor, adorned with lightning, flew toward the bridge. He hit the ground and immediately began to fight. Fireworks started going off from the leisure vessel and Valkyrie fought her way across the bridge to meet with them.

As Thor tore through the undead, the Asgardians pushed onto the Sakaaran ship. They were almost completely loaded by the time Thor walked up to Loki and Cassie. "You're late."

"You're missing an eye." Loki responded. "Tell her to get on the ship. She might listen to you."

"Get on the ship? Why would she-"

"You're going to be an uncle and she refuses to-"

"This isn't over." Valkyrie said, marching past them toward Hela.

"You heard the woman." Cassie said, rushing to follow the Valkyrie. They were all panting as they watched the goddess of death approach them.

"I think we should disband the Revengers." Thor said, looking at Valkyrie and Cassie. 

"Hit her with a lightning blast." Loki pointed at Hela.

"I just hit her with the biggest lightning blast in the history of lightning. It did nothing." Thor argued. 

"We just need to hold her off until everyone's on board." Valkyrie said.

"Speaking of-" Loki started.

"I'm not getting on the ship until everyone else is safe."

"You're pregnant! You shouldn't be-" 

" _Everyone_  is on board before I get on." 

"It won't end there. The longer Hela's on Asgard, the more powerful she grows. She'll hunt us down. We need to stop her here and now." Thor said.

"So, what do we do?" Valkyrie asked.

"I'm not doing 'Get Help'." Loki said, turning to Thor.

Thor stepped forward, turned to look at the Asgardians boarding the ship, then back to look at Hela again. "Asgard's not a place, it's a people. Loki, this was never about stopping Ragnarok. It was about  _causing_  Ragnarok. Surtur's crown, the Vault! It's the only way."

"Bold move, brother. Even for me." Loki said, before turning and running toward the Grandmaster's ship.

"What does Surtur's crown do?" Cassie asked.

"The destruction of Asgard. Surtur of Muspelheim, he grows as large as a mountain and rains down destruction upon all of Asgard." Thor answered.

"Oh. Fun. You ready for this?" Cassie tightened her hold on her daggers and bit her lip. 

"After you." Valkyrie said.

Thor flew forward on his lightning, slashing at Hela with his swords and being thrown back toward the castle. Cassie and Valkyrie attacked simultaneously, both being knocked away as Thor rushed forward again. Valkyrie got up quickly, but Cassie lay on the bridge for a moment, pain radiating throughout her body. She made herself get up as Loki flew past them. "Cannot prove him right." She muttered, picking her daggers up and launching herself at Hela, who grabbed Cassie by her throat and threw her to the ground.

Thor told Heimdall to take the ship and leave but Hela wasn't ready for that, skewering the ship to keep it in place and allow her soldiers to climb aboard. Gunfire sounded and Skurge jumped down from the ship, shooting his assault weapons at Hela's soldiers as he called Hela's attention away from the battle for just long enough to throw a knife into his chest before turning back to Valkyrie.

"Hela! Enough! You want Asgard, it's yours." Thor shouted.

"Whatever game you're playing. It won't work." Hela said, as Cassie pulled herself up off the ground with a groan. "You can't defeat me."

"No, I know." Thor said, panting. "But he can." He gestured to the castle as a gigantic fire demon burst through it, breaking the castle apart. 

"No." Hela said, looking up at Surtur, who provided the distraction Valkyrie needed to jump at her and push her Dragonfang sword into Hela's back. Thor hit the bridge with lightning, breaking it and sending Hela into the waters below.

Cassie watched as Surtur destroyed the place she'd adopted as her second home, barely noticing as Hulk threw his fit about not being able to fight the 'big monster', but definitely taking notice when he bounded for them, picking the trio up and leaping into the ship with them. They watched from the ship's bridge as Surtur finished his destruction, which culminated in Asgard literally exploding.

As Loki docked with the larger ship, Thor went to find an eye patch and Cassie approached Heimdall. "You're Heimdall, right?" The gold-eyed man nodded. "I-I watched you fighting on the Bridge. You were amazing. The way you wield the Bifrost sword, it's like an extension of yourself."

"You fought valiantly, as well, Miss Campbell, and not to worry about the young prince within you. He is well."

She smiled at him knowing the reason for her striking up conversation. "It's kinda neat that you know me so well and we've never met."

"No, actually. We have met before. I watched as Frigga created you."

"I'm sorry, what?" She asked, feeling like the wind was knocked out of her. 

"Many years ago, Frigga noticed a contempt growing in Loki; a jealousy for everything Thor had and ever would have. He grew bitter. His pranks went from being full of fun and mischief, to dangerous and possibly fatal. She hoped to heal the divide by making a gift for Loki that Thor could never take. The love of a special woman is what softened Odin, so she set to work on a special woman for her youngest son. Because of the magics she used to make you, she knew you could not pass for Asgardian, but you would feel quite at home on Midgard. So, I found a group of scientists working hard to create life from its base components, and failing. Frigga took you to them, made them think their experiment had been a success. She left you to grow in their care."

Normally, Cassie would laugh at calling what HYDRA did 'care', but she just swallowed and asked the next question. "How could she know we'd meet?"

"She planned for you to meet during your thirtieth year, but when Loki fell from the Bifrost, she knew he was not dead. She knew that the power of the Tesseract would call him to Midgard, so she sent you to the city most likely to draw him in."

"What do you mean, she sent me? I went to New York because Phil-"

"-fell for the allure of another woman."

She blinked at the man. "Frigga... made Phil fall-"

"No, but we saw he would and  _when_  he would. She made certain you had no illusions of his feelings for Audrey."

She took a deep breath. "So, I'm not... not even Red Skull's daughter. I'm some Asgardian golem?"

"You aren't made of clay." Heimdall said with a small smile.

"But I was made for Loki? I belong with him?"

"But you don't belong to him. Frigga gave you free will."

"Because Loki wouldn't want a woman he couldn't break."

"Because Loki would want a headstrong woman. Did you notice when he realized he was falling for you?"

"After I... stopped being scared of him." She sighed. "No wonder." Heimdall raised his eyebrows. "Even when I was terrified of him, I was attracted to him. I dreamed of him. Not that I can really blame that for my actions. Like you said, I have free will, but... just makes sense. Um... it was nice meeting you... thanks. Thanks for telling me." She whispered before heading toward the room where Loki was reading, her backpack lying open next to him. He looked relaxed and happy, completely different than he had before.

"You grabbed some interesting books." He said, happily.

"So, I just spoke to Heimdall."

"Oh? He didn't seem upset that I tried to have him executed for treason, did he?"

"He didn't mention it. He did, however, tell me a story about your mom." She sat next to him on the sofa and looked over at him.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Apparently, several dozen years ago, Frigga got worried about you. She saw you being overcome by bitterness and jealousy so she made you a special gift, one that Thor could never take. You'd be suspicious of any gift she just handed you, so she put the gift on Midgard and planned for you to stumble upon it later. You, of course, decided to get Thor exiled, tried to destroy Jotunheim, and wouldn't let Thor and Odin save you from falling from the Bifrost. Your impatience put you on Midgard early, so she had to change the plan, put the gift where you'd find it during your rampage... and you did." Loki smiled, obviously following where the story was heading. "You didn't need me. You ever wonder what made you ask Clint about any supers in the vicinity? What made you decide you needed a Midgardian queen?"

Loki's smirk grew. "So, Frigga created you. Does that mean you're my sister?"

"Loki!" She laughed. "I'm serious!"

He chuckled. "I knew this. I felt it long ago. All right, I did think it was Odin, not Frigga, and that you were a trap, not a present, but I knew you were for me." He smiled, brightly. "Even if you are my sister, it's all right. Our child won't be simple. I'm adopted." He took her hand and traced his thumb across the back of it. "So, when we get to Earth... whatever shall we do?"

She pulled his hand to her mouth and kissed it. "I have... some people that I need to talk to. Hard conversations I need to have."

"Ah. Rogers. Are you going to tell him that you are a magical construct created especially for me?" 

"No. That would just be an excuse for my actions."

"It is an excuse. A perfectly valid one." 

"No. Frigga gave me free will-"

"What is free will? It's nonsense. It's nothing."

"Loki, don't. I... I have to take responsibility for my own actions."

"I suppose I could let you out of my sight for a few hours when we return."

"You best check yourself if you think you're gonna control my whereabouts."

"I'm sorry, was that English?"

"I, honestly, can't tell you where that phrasing came from, but the point is valid. I might have been created for you and I might be carrying your child, Loki, but you don't own me." She looked over at him and bit her lip. "I'm glad you came back, Loki, to Asgard. Thor and I knew you were gonna betray him, but I'm happy you changed your mind... eventually."

"Were you truly surprised?" He asked as she stood up, and he picked up the book he'd been reading.

"Nah. I knew you had it in you. Oh, Loki?" She stopped at the door and he looked up at her. "Where'd you hide the Tesseract?"

"I know not what you mean."

"Come on. You expect me to believe that you went into that vault, knowing it was the last time you'd ever be in that vault, and you just walked past the Tesseract to Surtur's crown?"

"That's exactly what I did. I was in a rush. I didn't have time to even look at the Tesseract." 

"Did I mention that Frigga created me with the ability to see past your lies?"

Loki's smile could only be described as 'Cat that ate the canary'. He gave a breathy chuckle. "It's on the Grandmaster's leisure ship. I couldn't leave it there! Surtur destroyed everything, as was the plan. The Tesseract was much too powerful to leave behind. We might need it!" 

"We might need it? That's your excuse? You didn't grab it because we might need it. You grabbed it because you've still got a hard-on for its power."

"Do you intend to tell Thor?"

"He doesn't need to know until he needs to know, but I won't lie when it comes to light. Enjoy the book. I've read that one. It's good."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cassie was sleeping when the  _Sanctuary 2_  appeared. She was sleeping when Thanos attacked, his 'children' ordering everyone on the ship to divide into two groups. Loki rushed to her side, an uncontrolled fear in his eyes as he ordered her to go to the group Valkyrie was in. "Wh-what? Why?"

"Because I know Thanos. He says it's random, but it won't be. Whoever fights, they die, and whatever side Thor and I are on, that's the side that he'll choose, so please..."

"No. I'm not leaving you... or Thor and Bruce. There's five of them, against an entire-"

"No, there's not five of them against all of us. You think planets full of people haven't tried to fight Thanos before? He has  _at least_  one Infinity Stone, Cassie. You cannot stay on my side. I can't let you and... and little Anthony die."

"I'm not running. If Thanos wants to kill off the fighters, then... then that's me."

"You can't pretend that you aren't preg-"

"You can't act like that's more important than standing against-"

"You can't stand against Thanos with an Infinity Stone!"

"We can... and will."

Valkyrie and those with her loaded up onto the leisure craft and flew away as fast as the ship would take them, but the others engaged in battle with Thanos and the Black Order. They were massacred. Loki pulled Cassie to stand next to him, close to his side, as Thanos beat Thor and one of the aliens walked between the bodies on the floor. "Hear me and rejoice. You have had the privilege of being saved by the Great Titan. You may think this is suffering. No. It is salvation. The universal scales tip toward balance because of your sacrifice. Smile, for even in death you have become children of Thanos."

Cassie wanted nothing more than to put her fist through the alien's face, but she'd seen these four Black Order warriors take down half of Asgard before Thanos even raised a fist to Thor. Loki took her hand and squeezed it gently, his eyes never leaving Thanos. "I know what it's like to lose. To feel so desperately that you're right, yet to fail, nonetheless." Thanos picked Thor up by his armor like a doll and began to walk toward Loki. "It's frightening, turns the legs to jelly. I ask you, to what end? Dread it, run from it, destiny arrives all the same, and now it's here. Or should I say, I am?" He raised his fist to show a gauntlet with a purple Infinity Stone... the Space Stone.

"You talk too much." Thor groaned.

"The Tesseract, or your brother's head." Thanos offered, his large right hand on Thor's head. "I assume you have a preference."

"Oh, I  _do_. Kill away." Loki said. Cassie closed her eyes as Thor groaned in pain, which turned into a scream. "All right, STOP!"

Cassie gasped, opening her eyes again. "We don't have the Tesseract. It was destroyed on Asgard." Thor yelled. Loki looked from Thor to Thanos, then raised his hand producing the Tesseract. "You... really are the worst, Brother." 

"I assure you, Brother, the sun will shine on us again." Loki promised, stepping forward. He gave Cassie a pointed look that told her to stay put.

Thanos chuckled. "Your optimism is misplaced, Asgardian."

"Well, for one thing, I'm not Asgardian. And for another, we have a Hulk." Cassie jumped backward as Loki leaped forward to secure Thor and a green blur tackled Thanos. Cassie watched in confusion as Hulk and Thanos beat into each other. She was sure that Bruce had been on the craft with Valkyrie. Thanos quickly got the upper hand and left Hulk lying bewildered on the ground. Cassie rushed to Hulk's side as Thor grabbed a pipe and bashed it against Thanos' head. 

Heimdall groaned and looked over at her and Hulk, grasping the broken Bifrost sword in his left hand and raised his right hand. "Allfathers, let the dark magic flow through me one last time." The Bifrost enveloped her and Hulk, pulling them away and off toward the Earth. Hulk wrapped an arm around her to keep her close as they hurtled through space. 

She almost passed out as they crashed through Earth's atmosphere, heading to a familiar building in Greenwich Village. Hulk twisted them so that he fell through the roof of the Sanctum Sanctorum and through the staircase before her. It still hurt every single piece of her body, anyway. She looked up from the hole in the floor, pain going through her worse than when she fell off of the Bifrost onto Sakaar. Hulk was slowly deflating beside her as two faces appeared above them. "Thanos is coming. He's coming." Banner-Hulk groaned out as Cassie tried to sit up. 

"Who?" Dr. Strange asked.


End file.
